Unknown Territory
by ahulings
Summary: Wendy has no memory of her last trip to Neverland, she thinks Neverland is just a figment of her imagination. At her lowest point, she is able to explore the land she always dreamed of. But this dream, seems more like a nightmare. A nightmare staring the one and only Peter Pan.
1. A Little Place Called Neverland

I ran. I kept running even though any minute my body would collapse on top of itself.

"Wendy! Bloody hell come back here!", George fumed as he chased after me.

My father cannot catch me. Not this time. Not ever again. I took all my energy to make sure I could find a place to hide. It was getting fairly dark outside. Soon he wouldn't be able to even see a glimpse of me. My bloody feet were screaming at me to stop though. The cold chill of London tried to slow me down. I could barely see from the tears in my eyes. I was ready to give up.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a harbor. There was a small sail boat which I could possibly hide in. This was my last chance. I turned my body around and ran towards it. My father slowed from confusion. I sprinted until I reached the petite boat, and basically jumped right in. There was a bench inside, which I decided to hide under.

The loud footsteps, started to disappear from my sound range. They were getting farther away. I curled myself into a ball and closed my eyes. I had no plan other than escaping. I had nothing with me except the clothes on my back. My eye was throbbing and I just tried to forget about my life before. The nightmare was over. A dream would soon start. My lack of energy hit me like a bullet, and soon I was fast asleep.

My eyelids slowly started to drift open. I expected to see the light of day, but there was just the darkness of night. Carefully, I moved by body out of my sleeping position. I tried to stand up. It was hard, but it seemed my feet got a little better. All of my surrounding, was water. An endless amount of water. The only life other than myself, was the waves. The water was nearly black, it almost looked like it was made of poison.

Hope again left me. Here I was alone and weak. I just stared. Waiting for death. I wanted to cry. But I always cried. I hated that habit and vowed for now on, I would not cry. But who cared? My days were numbered. Death would come soon enough.

A small speck arrived. Could it be land? I went to the corner of the boat, and it was. I was heading right towards it. A smile started to spread on my face. The boat shaked roughly, and my legs did collapse. It was not a wave. The water was too calm for it to be a wave. A lullaby devoured everything around me. It grew louder and louder. It was sweeter than anything on this world. It was drawing me towards the water. As I got closer to the water, I noticed shining green scales. As I peered up, a beautiful face had matched it.

The girl was singing. She was making the unearthly music. I wanted to follow her. Spend the rest of my life listening to her song. My face was about to hit the water, but then she opened her mouth. She showed her dark fangs. Her singing stopped, and I was starting to come back to reality. Here was a mermaid, a mermaid who would be the last of me.

I kicked her back into the water. More and more appeared though. The whole boat was surrounded. They scratched and pawed at the boat, which was no match for them. Dozens of arms came at me, and I was in the black water. They all pushed me under. I was able to came back up, but would soon be under water again. My lungs needed air. I knew I was going to lose this battle. I stopped trying to come back up, and closed my eyes. They knew I had given up.

A muffled voice came out of no where, and suddenly my lifeless body was pulled back to the surface.

"What are you doing!", a white haired mermaid raged. She was more beautiful than all of them. Her eyes and tail were both the color of a clear ocean. She was pale as though she had never been in sunlight. Maybe she never had.

A small armed, but relatively strong girl responded, "She is both human and an uninvited guest to Neverland. You know our rules. She heard the song, she must die."

The white haired girl retorted, "She is a lost girl, and our very own Wendy. Wendy Darling. Now she needs some air so go take her to the edge of the island. Your childish mistake will be remembered."

Without hesitation, all the girls followed her orders. They swam faster than any boat. We were to the island on a minute's notice. They dropped me onto the soft, light sand. I looked at all their faces, then to their tails. Mermaids were like how they were in the stories. Well in the dark stories at least. I was out of the trance when I heard footsteps. The mermaids all yelled at me to play dead, then they were back into the water.

"Who is this? Is she dead?", a rather young male voice quaked.

"Why don't you go check, Tootles?", another voice miffed.

I closed my eyes and held my breath. A pair of hands touch my skin. I could tell they were both dirty and shaky. He turned me over and he tried to feel for my pulse.

"I feel no pulse. How do you think she got here, Felix?", the boy questioned.

"We need to get Pan," an more adult voice asserted.

Again I heard footsteps. Who was Pan? The footsteps drew out.

The mermaids reappeared. "Run and hide. Wendy go! We will cover your tracks."  
I was scared and sat there for a split second. The mermaids all put up their hands, and a big waved formed. Now was time for running. I knew the wave were my motivation. I ran and ran until I was safely blocked by multiple trees. I crouched down and awaited until there was again footsteps.

"Pan, I told you there was a girl here," the young voice informed.

Though there was nobody there. I was hidden. I sort of felt bad for the young boy. What would be his consequences.

"Tootles, are you trying to play a game with me?", a devilish deep voice asked.

The boy gulped, "No sir. It was just there. I cross my heart, there was a body."

The more mature voice agreed,"There was a body, Tootles wasn't lying. It was a girl. He said she had no pulse, but I have a hard time believing she was actually dead."

The dark, mysterious voice spoke up, "No one comes to Neverland without my permission. Especially, not a girl. She isn't dead. I can feel it in my veins. Get the other boys, and we must go and find her immediately."

It couldn't be. Neverland? Pan? He was just a story I made up. A small figment of my imagination. There is no way.

I didn't know if I should stay hidden, or try to go further onto the island. There was a crackle of a leaf, and I knew it wasn't me. I got up and swiftly and quietly started moving. It came closer, so I decided to run. The run didn't last long. Soon enough, more hands were on me. A blindfold was put across my eyes, and it was darker than ever before.


	2. Who is Peter Pan

I kicked and screamed and probably punched some of the boys out. I wanted them to know that I was not going without a fight. Someone then kicked my legs and I fell to the ground. My blindfold fell off of my eyes. In front of me was 12 boys. Well some were teenagers. There clothes were dirty, and their hands were covered in blood. But they didn't seem to mind. Their only concern was me at the moment.

"Let me go now!" I growled as I kicked one of the boys in the groin.

A figure came out of the shadows. He was rather attractive in a dark way. He had dark hair and light eyes that seemed to glow like the moon. He was older than all the others. "So our Wendy bird has returned. I thought I sent you home last time."

"How do you ever know my name?" I asked, with the same dark tone in my voice as his.

He looked down on me as if I was a helpless child, "Come on Wendy, you know who I am. I'm Peter Pan."

"No, you are not!" I barked. I found a knife next to me, and tried to jab it into his skin. He was fast and just jumped to the right like it was nothing.

"Now think again, he hissed. "You were quite younger, but you remember. Once you do you are going to tell me how you got here!"

I mumbled, "I only know you from my stories."

He leaned in closer, and was about an inch from my face. "Are you sure those were just stories. Because from what I recall, they were dark memories. All you ever did when you were here was cry."

They were all memories. I must have been told I was crazy so many times, that I just agreed they were fake. "Well I grew up, if only you could.."

Pan gave me a long stare. Like I was bug, and he was just waiting to squash me. His left eyebrow moved upwards, and it was quite intimidating. He again spoke, "Now how did you get here once again? Because I know it wasn't here from my shadow."

"I got here by boat. The wind drifting me here, as if by fate. Then the mermaids-"

"Mermaids?!", Pan screamed. "The mermaids left here long ago they were banished. Why didn't they kill you?"

"I am shocked, Peter. So many questions. Some leader of a land that you don't even know about," I gritted through my teeth.

He put my head forcefully against the tree. His sword was up against my throat. "You do not talk to me like that. You are nothing. I am the king. And if you question the king, there will be some rather severe consequences."

I was done with being taken advantage of. My dad talked to me just like that. So I hollered back, "I would like to see you try."

He made a cut, and the younger bots screeched. It wasn't deep. It did hurt though. There would be a scar. If he really wanted to kill me, he would have done it already.

Peter Glared back. Unmoved by what just happened. "Take her to the cage." He bent down to my eye level, "We may just have some use of her."

I was again covered. I kept a hold on my neck. He knew I was already injured, but decided I needed some more pain. I never remember him being that nasty. I knew he was mean, but I never thought he was violent. The grey bag opened, and my face smashed at the end of the cage. The boys held the door closed, until Peter came with the key. Some of the boys had the look of sympathy in their eyes.

Peter came with the key and was again inches from me. He whispered up against the cage, "The only games you play, are the ones that I create."

I thought they were gone, but then they lifted the cage into the air. It was held up by a single rope. There was another cage held up on the next tree over. I wondered who was in there. Could they even hear me if I yelled? But, who else would hear me?

The anxiety rolled in. I needed to get out. I kept kicking at the door. It was a pretty bad idea once I realized I had no shoes. I started to think about my father. What he did to me after my last trip to Neverland. Suddenly, nothing had changed.

Hours had gone by, and I started to sing to myself. It was the same song the mermaids sang to me. I kept re imagining them. What I would give to be one of them. I was lost in my daydream, until I heard a peculiar sound. It sounded almost like cutting. Then it hit my mind, it was the rope. I pushed on the walls to try to get out, but it was too late. The cage took the long fall to the ground.

Once I opened my eyes after impact, I saw this green glitter. It was around the lock area. A pale hand grasped the side of the door, and pulled it open with all of their mite. I made eye contact with them. She had sparkling wing, blond hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a green leaf dress. Immediately, I knew who it was.

"Tink, is it really you?" I squeaked.

She looked both ways with concern. She knew the consequences of what she had done. "You owe me one", she whispered.

Instead of running full gallop, I tiptoed. I had no knowledge of this island. I felt a change in the wind. I knew what this was. I remember. The shadow was nearby. It passed me, and came back. It could kill me almost instantly. But it just stayed there. Did not touch me at all. A voice aroused, and it left fast as the speed of sound.

The voice became a dark figure. It came closer. In the light of the moon I could see who it was.

"So, if a cage won't hold you down, what will," Peter Pan sneered.


	3. The Rules of his Games

My eyes could not behold him. He found me in a minute's notice. Though, I put my head up with pride. "Is that supposed to be a threat Peter?"

"Is it?" He questioned right back.

He was walking around me in a circle. Inspecting me. I had leafs all in my hair, and blood on my face and feet.

After a minute of silence, he finally spoke. "You have really changed since the last time I saw you…"

I surveyed him back. "You haven't changed at all. Peter, I am rather curious, how long have you been here?"

Again he got very close to me. He definitely had some personal space issues. "I don't like being called by Peter. I go by Pan. And, I think the more important question is how you got out of you cage?"

I remembered how fearful Tinkerbell was when she freed me. It was the fear all the boys had towards Pan. Except for the guy. Aw, Felix. He worshipped him like a god. So, I decided to keep quiet.

"I made up a game called escape, and I had one. If you want to know how, then you should have been watching. I would rather not say any more. my neck hurts when I talk, and I am rather hungry. And a bit thirsty," I explained.

He gave me a dirty look, which I gave back. He knew I remembered what he said. It was pretty funny to see him squirm. He breathed heavily, "I want you off this island. I would love to return you to your little family unharmed. But, you're not playing by the rules. I am afraid, I cannot stand cheaters. Can you Wendy?"

He wanted to play, so I would play along. I stepped closer so I was about less than an inch away. Our noses almost touched. "Me either… But Pan, you happen to be one." I took his sword away from him and went over to where the other cage was. I was trying to find the rope. Once I found it, I took the sword and swung with all my leftover power.

The cage fell, and Pan grabbed be by my waist and pulled me to the ground.

"You are bloody hell mad. Do you know what is in there?"

Then, the door started to push open.

Peter yelled to me, "Wendy go get the lost boys and send them there then stay at camp!"

I just stared at him. Unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Wendy this is an order go now!"

I ran and ran like I had before. I told the boys what happened, and they quickly fled. I looked back into the forest. There was something in there that Pan seemed to be afraid of.

While waiting for the boys, I took the liberty of eating what they were having for dinner. I had no clue what animal it was, and I didn't care. I decided to look around camp. I found the knife I tried to jab in Peter earlier. Well if I needed a weapon, a knife was a good one. Both quick and scary and bloody.

After a few hours, the boys were back. They walked in covered in blood.

Curly whispered, "What are we going to do with it?"

Curly was not that good at whispering. Lost Boys were good at being loud.

"What are you going to do with what?" I responded.

Felix eyed me. He probably hated me most of all. He had a large scar on his face. He was one of the older lost boys. He is still probably angry over the fact I got away before Peter could see his finding.

Peter Walked up to me tossing something up and down in his hand. "Nasty old pirate. Caption of the Jolly Roger actually. He came after us. So, here I have his left hand. Do you want it Wendy?"

"No thanks.. If you really want to get rid of him, you should feed it to some animal. They may get a craving for it…" I muttered.

"Splendid idea. Felix, go and feed it to Tick Tock Crocodile. I am sure he hasn't eaten in quite some time," Peter answered.

Felix did as told, and the other lost boys followed to get some action. It was again just me and Pan. He was probably quite angry from me stealing his sword. We were both too tired for another screaming match.

"Maybe now you understand what happens when you don't play by my rules. I make up the games, you don't. Wendy bird, you may be flying. But it only takes one arrow to shoot you down."

Peter then starting running to the rest of the boys.

"Would you like to come and watch, my Wendy?", he asked.

"I am fine staying here. I will watch camp…" I bellowed.

He darted into the deep trees of Neverland. He knew the location of every tree. Of every rock. Of every danger. I could suddenly hear him howl, "Come on boys! Let's play."


	4. Yet Another Surprise

I did not know if I was welcomed in Neverland or not. I knew I wasn't one of them. I trusted them enough though, to head to bed. I was uncomfortable, and felt so cold. Forcing myself to go to sleep never worked. So I stared up at the stars, until I felt more drowsy. The mermaid song started to play again. I thought it was in my head. But this time, it had more voices. More perfection to it. I looked over at the ocean, and I saw tails hitting the waves.

Making sure there was no sign of Pan, I headed over to the mermaids.

Everyone was there from before, except for their leader. The leader with white hair who had saved me. I thought I was safe with the others. Their leader wanted me alive. And what type of tribe doesn't obey their queen?

One of them spoke to me, "Why, did you tell him of us Wendy?"

I sat down on the soft sand. Her voice was like a dream. It was hard to even respond to.

"Tell who? Peter Pan? Was I not supposed to tell him?" I asked with utter confusion.

"You heard him. He said we weren't supposed to be here. He told you that we were banished."

The mermaid had said it word for word of what Pan told me. Just in a different point of view. "How do you know all of this? I didn't even say anything. Well not yet at least," I said with my voice trailing off.

All the mermaids just calmly swam through the water. It was like a dream. Like they were flying.  
"We know everything about anything. No one needs to say a single word. Sweet Wendy, you could also know everything," the glowing mermaid sang.

I was more confused, than I have ever been so far on this is island. I commented, "But how?"

"We will show you how," the mermaids droned in unison. They grabbed my hand. It was like they were leading me to a new world, a better world. My arm was being pulled ever so gently into the water. The black water never seemed so appealing. I wanted to explore every last inch of it. The water was about neck level. The water slowly raised onto my face. I was at peace with the world for once in my life.

I heard a swoop of wind, and my body was pulled back to the sand. I heard a hiss, and the mermaids fled. I opened my eyes to see Pan.

I was awaken by a bow and arrow being thrown at me, and a command that it was time to go hunting. At least that meant food. I tried to stand up, but my legs were still a bit wobbly. All the boys just ran out to their hunting area. Just expecting me to follow them.

I had never used a bow and arrow before. Out of my left eye, I could see Felix making the same observation.

"Here, let me help you," he commented.

He came up close, and moved my body into the right position. I noticed Pan keeping a keen eye on us. I had no clue why Felix wanted to help me. But, I was already on his bad side, so I just thought to cooperate.

Felix surveyed the area. "Here," he mumbled, "We should go to somewhere quieter. There is far too many people, and not enough prey."

I didn't want to go. I didn't know Felix. Other than he would die, before not following Pan's orders. I just followed him while making a trail of leaves that he didn't know about. I stuck behind him. We walked for a few minutes, and then stopped. We both peered at a large bird.

"Just like I told you," he asserted.

I got into ready position, and made my target. I was about to shoot, but then I noticed something peculiar. Felix was also aiming his arrow. It was not at the bird though, it was me. I tried to act like I did not notice. Slowly I lowered myself, and then sped forward right once the string made a sound.

This was unknown territory to me. I didn't know the trails, or where to turn. If I went back the way I originally went, I would have been killed. Felix wasn't nearly as fast as Pan. But he did know the land. I hit dozens of branches and my feet were again bleeding.

Felix started to get far behind me. I saw the beach, and started running straight toward it. I didn't notice there was a decrease in the land in between. I was too fast, and I rolled down the hill with my body hitting rocks.

I stopped rolling, and Felix was right there on top of me. He was pointing his arrow right at me. My whole body was shaking. I closed my eyes, like I did any time I was truly terrified. I heard the bow go off, but I felt no pain. I opened my eyes, and noticed Felix not staring at me. He was staring straight above me, at what he most likely shot. I looked straight above me, and fear filled my eyes. He had shot at another cage up in the air.

There was only two cages. They were both cut down. By the look in Felix's eyes, I knew this cage wasn't empty.

I roared at him. "Who is in there?!"

He just gave me a chuckle. A sly little chuckle. Again treating me like I was a child. "Oh Wendy," he started, "I think we both know who is in there. Do you even remember him Wendy?"

"Who are you talking about," I squealed.

"So you don't. You don't remember your precious little Baelfire?" he thundered.

Baelfire? I could not remember him at all. I thought I had gone mad. Sometimes it seems like they're talking about another Wendy. A better Wendy. A Wendy who didn't make nearly as many mistakes as me.

"Wendy, as more time goes on after you leave Neverland, the more you forget. But being back here, your memory should start to come back," he whispered.

My mind started to fill pictures of that night. The night I was supposed to leave the nursery. The night Baelfire was taken away from the shadow. When John and Michael started to live their life in fear. Fear of what had happened to Baelfire, the fear that the shadow would again hunt them down. My father thought it was my fault that they had gone crazy with fear. From then on, he started blaming me for everything...

I was filled with rage. "You are lying! Even if was him he would have-"

"Been in the cage for years," Felix finished. "You were only in there for a few hours, and could not handle it. Think of all the times he thought about coming back to you. Going back to the only real home he had."

He did not know Bae. There was no way I was going to let Felix talk about how he felt. I grabbed the knife from my pocket, and tried to stab Felix's leg. It went in only a little since he moved back. He had no fear of me. He saw the knife as no more than a wooden play sword.

"If you really want to take out your anger," he advised, "you should go to Pan."

I didn't need him to say anymore. I knew Pan was the one who put Baelfire in there. I took my bow and arrow, and stomped across the leaf trail I had left for myself. Pan was a cheater, and like he said, there would be severe consequences for it.

Close enough to the camp, I hid behind a tree. It only took a moment for Pan to notice my presence. He looked at me, and saw all the anger running through my veins. I gave him a Wendy like smile. Then, I shot the arrow straight at his heart. I thought he was stunned, but I noticed he had grabbed ahold of the arrow. It was less than an inch of making contact of his skin.

Calmly and subtly he looked at me. He started to drone. "So it looks like Wendy learned how to shoot."

I was not done with him yet. I pushed him against a tree, and locked his neck up with my arm. I stuck my knife in the tree right next to his ear. This would get him rallied up.

"What did you do to Baelfire!" I screamed.

Peter nonchalantly made eye contact with with me. Like always, he had no emotion. He seemed to be staring at my lips. For the first time starting to really recognize my face, and who he was dealing with.

"So you saw the cage," he answered. "You didn't really believe there was only two on this while island, did you?"

Without my attention, he took his sword and again positioned it right on my neck. He backed me up onto another tree. I nearly fell walking backwards on the gravel.

He began to speak again, "Now Wendy, here is a game that we will actually play. One with my rules. You will get your treasured Baelfire back, once you win our game."

"And what is this game?" I breathed.

"Have you ever seen me fly?" he asked with sarcasm.

I exclaimed, "What does that even have to do with anything?"

"Neverland is nearly out of magic," he elaborated. "Now, my land needs its magic, and that is where you come in…"

"What do I have to do," I gulped.

He looked at me straight in the eyes. Our pupils were locked together. "You are going to get my magic back. You will go to every length, make every sacrifice, to get this deed done."

I held my head up with pride. I made him know that his sword no longer scared me. I beamed at him. "Where do I start?"

He gave me a smile. A smile with pride that a father would give to his son. He hollered at me loud enough for all of Neverland to hear. "With the heart… Of the truest believer!"

The sword was removed from my neck, and he slowly moved back away. He pulled out his flute. It seemed like he started to play. All the boys started to dance around in a circle. I could not hear one note, and Pan most certainly noticed it.


	5. Cheaters Never Win

All night I kept thinking about what Pan meant with the heart of the truest believer. It made no sense to me. I just really wanted Bae here right now. He is my last memory of happiness. My last hope that my life isn't a waste.

After another terrible sleep, I woke up to a distant voice. There was no one at the camp. I was alone. The fire was out, and all the boys' weapons that used to cover the ground, were out of sight. I found a pair of loafers near a tree trunk, and decided to put them on so I could at least walk without an excruciating amount of pain. The voice started to get louder.

"Wendy!" the voice screamed. "Wendy help me! Help!"

It was the voice of a woman. It had so much pain in it, I wanted to cringe. I followed the direction, and it was towards the beach.

"Wendy, Wendy please!", the voice sobbed.

As I neared the beach, I saw the lost boys all bundled in a group. Peter of course as the leader, with Felix close second. I had broken the wall of the group.

I yelped, "What is going on here?!"

Once they were all out of the was, I saw something ungodly. It was too late. The voice who had just called out to me, could no longer utter a single word. Her top part of her body was inches away from her bottom. Like a magic trick, she had been cut in half. Though, she couldn't be put back together.

It was a single slice with Peter's sword, which had killed the queen mermaid. The one who saved me. The only person other than Bae, who was my friend.

I gave out a long scream of terror. My eyes were overflowing with tears. I kept scratching my arms, until I felt blood. Every single person there was staring at me. Some had sympathy, and others had empathy. But others had none, not one single hint of regret.

"What did you do to her?!" I rasped.

They just all stared at me. One of them had to be brave enough to tell me. Peter broke through the crowd, and looked me straight in the eyes.

"We needed more magic," he murmured.

They took her tail. That was the only response I got. He left first, then Felix, then the rest of the boys. They all left me there, while they headed back to camp. I just sat down staring at her. I didn't even know her name. But she knew mine. She saw that I have been searching for my entire life

I was left with her face and a pile of blood. She was so beautiful. More magical than Peter ever was. Once all the boys were gone, I started to scream into my lap. My nose was runny and I kept wiping all my tears. Ever so subtly, I felt a hand rubbing against my back. A both soft and comforting hand.

I looked up, and was amazed with what I saw. "Tink," I panted, "Is it really you?"

She just nodded and hugged me. She held me, and rocked me back in forth. In Neverland, you do forget you are a child. You forget that you are innocent. Tinkerbell, oh but Tinkerbell remembered. She looked at me with glimmer in her eyes, just like the white haired mermaid had.

"I am so sorry this happened," Tinkerbell sympathized.

"Its not your fault," I remarked. "You are the only one here who tried to help me."

She sighed to me. "I should have gotten Bae too. You two may have had a chance then.."

"You didn't have a chance. It was either me or him. But, you knew you wouldn't succeed if you tried him."

I breathed in and out, I was almost done crying. "Tink?" I asked.

"Yes my lady," she responded.

I took a big gulp. I couldn't look at her while I said this. "Why did you say we may have had a chance?"

She was silent. I knew why. This island was far more dangerous than anyone could've imagined. Pan had hurt everyone I loved. It was either me or Tinkerbell left.

Tink held up my chin. "The only way to be safe, is to be loyal. You can't break the rules. Only Pan can. The only cheater is the king," she admitted.

"So what am I supposed to do. Smile everytime I see him. Do every last thing he says. I may have done that before, but I won't anymore. I just can't live like that," I explained.

Tinkerbell leered over to the lost boy's campsite. "You'll just have to, Wendy. Thats how you got home before."

I sat down at camp, just focusing on myself. I knew I was the center of attention, which I never was used to. I started to think back of when I told stories of Neverland. When it seemed like a place of bright eyes, not of dark shadows.

"If you are all so desperate for magic," I remarked, "I heard there is pixie dust in the blossoms on top of the trees. You know, to keep us going until we get the heart."

Everyone stared at me. They probably expected me to come back and ruin their camp site. To once again try to kill Pan.

Felix looked at me unamused. "How do you suppose we reach the top of the trees without flying?"

I stared right back at him. Gave him a small devious smile, "We can climb of course. I am great at climbing. I used to always climb the big tree in my backyard when I was little."

Nibs then smiled back and joked, "Oh when you were little? When you were here and just cried to go back home. Sure, we should listen to you."

"Knock if off," Peter huffed as he entered the camp. "Its the only plan we've got that doesn't have blood and is utterly useless."

We all walked to see what trees seemed to have flowers on them, and I over heard Peter and Felix talking to each other.

"Have you sent out the shadow?" Felix whispered. Checking around him to see if anyone was close.

Peter responded, "Did it just this morning. In no time we will have Henry here. Then Wendy can be of some use."

"We are going to split out to cover more ground. Wendy, come with me," Peter demanded.

Felix seemed rather angry with this idea. "I will go with you two," he growled.

"Oh Felix," Peter stated. "You need to stay here back with the other boys to keep an eye on them. We don't want Tootles almost killing someone again."

Peter led the way and I followed behind. I still did not trust being alone with one of the boys, after the incident with Felix. But some how I felt safe with Peter. The only one to fear was him. And we had our game to play, so he still needed me.

I looked up at this rather large tree, and it seemed to sparkle.

"Lets try this one," I remarked.

I tried to climb up it, but it was tricky. I haven't climbed in such a long time. Peter was right behind me. We both kept struggling and it seemed useless.

"Do you even know if it is this one?" He beamed.

I wanted to give up. All I saw was thorns, and jungle green leaves. I just sat down. I popped my neck, and took in my surroundings.

"Look over there!" Peter exclaimed. Hopping down our tree, and going to the one next to us.

"Could you slow down!" I yelled.

I followed back behind him. He seemed so excited. I had no clue what he saw. We started to climb onto another tree, and after a few feet up, he stopped.

"Wendy look," he ordered.

There was a hole in the tree, and I stuck my head in. There were fairies, there were so small compared to Tinkerbell. But, Tinkerbell did lose her magic though. There were all glittering gold, and were doing a ballroom dance. One of the fairies stopped and blew some of the gold dust on me.

I started to hover up in the air, and one the male fairies blew the dust on Peter and he floated. He grabbed my body to make sure I wouldn't fly away. I could tell he hasn't been airborne in a while. There was still some magic left, and I could tell there was hope in his eyes.

He bowed to me. "Would you like to take this dance?' he asked. Without an answer, he took my body and started twirling me. The moonlight was shining on his face. We could both finally see each other in the light. I was getting exhausted so I leaned my head on his shoulder, and he just let it stay there.

"Wendy?" he whispered.

"Yeah," I responded.

"I thought I was going to die today. The shadow was not coming quick enough. I need the heart. I need to finish living before I can reach my next adventure."

"And what is that?" I asked.

"To die", he answered.

I actually felt safe. I looked around, Neverland was marvelous when you aren't on the surface. I looked to my right. I saw an arrow in a tree. But what was it stuck on? I turned my head a bit, and saw the cage it was stuck in. All my bad memories of Peter came back. Tink was wrong. The only way of winning was to cheat.

I slowly put my hands on Peter's waist and snatched his sword. Without him noticing, I took the knife from my pocket. I put my hand on his shoulder. Slowly and ever so cautiously, I stabbed the knife in his arm.

I pushed his body back, and flew to Bae's cage. Instead of rope, there was a chain holding it up. I kept hitting it, but it wasn't budging. I needed to do this before Peter came back. With an adrenaline rush I swung, and the chain broke. The cage had its long fall to the ground. I took my sword and tried to break open the door.

"Wendy!" Peter screamed.

I finally broke the lock and opened the door.

"Wendy, is that you," Bae spoke ever so softly in fear.

"Yes it is, and you need to leave," I gulped.

"But Wend-"

"Now Bae! Now!" I hollered.

Bae ran away and kept looking back at me. I tried to run. I had no clue where to go. Anywhere I went, they would find me. This wasn't my land, and there was no way I could leave. Hopefully they will be so focused on me, Bae could find a good hiding spot. Get enough strength so he could fight the boys off when they came.

The lost boys had me cornered. They formed a circle around me, and I was in the middle. I ended up facing Pan. One of the boys blindfolded me, and Pan held my body.

"Back to your cage my Wendy Bird," he whispered with his lips touching my ears.


	6. Make It More Believable

I loathed the cage. I hate small spaces. The thought of dying in here, scared me more than any dagger. I wanted again to be flying. Why had I been so stupid? If I just followed his orders, both me and Bae would have been safe in the long run. But no, I had to try to be the hero. Looking through the cracks between the different pieces of wood calmed me down. I just had to wink, and it didn't even seem like I was in a cage. It was like how I imagined it in my stories.

It had reached nightfall, and I was about asleep. I heard a tug and I was slowly being lowered down. It felt rather peaceful. Once I hit the ground, I felt someone messing with the lock. Slowly, the door opened up.

"Here," Pan scolded as he threw me a piece of meat.

"What the hell is this?" I said under my breath observing the food.

Pan was red with anger. His arm was bandaged where I stabbed the knife in. He was wearing a white tank top, and his usual attire.

"Are you going to eat it or not?" he sneered.

I looked up at him, and then down at the meat. I took a bite of it. It was worse than the taste of medicine. I would have loved to spit it out, but I could not afford any more trouble.

"So are you just going to stay here and watch me eat?" I fussed. "Or are you going to send me back up?"

"Henry is here," he muttered.

"Who is Henry?," I asked. "Is he the one you sent the shadow after?"

Peter stared at me. He opened his mouth and gave out an evil grin. "He has the heart, the heart of the truest believer."

Realization finally hit me. "You don't mean his actual heart, do you?"

Peter started to play with his sword and chuckled at me. He didn't answer me. Peter had a way of just using facial expressions and body language instead of words.

"I am not going to do it Peter. I refuse. I would rather stay in the cage."  
"Oh but Wendy, don't you remember our game. The one you cheated at, which got you in this cage. Well, it is not over yet. I need his heart... You are going to help me. We can either torture him to get the heart, or have you trick him into giving it up. Now, which one sounds like the better option?"

We walked to the camp and there was Henry. He wasn't that much younger than me. His eyes filled with hope. His smile brighter than any I have ever saw. Peter took a blanket from the ground, and threw it over my shoulders. He then started to rub my back.

"Oh Henry," he started, "This is Wendy. She feels rather sick, so I am going to take her up to her bed."

"What is the matter with her?" Henry asked with concern. It pained me to see how naive he was. How easily he could be taken advantage of.

"We aren't really sure yet," Peter answered. "She may have a cold…"

I went up to what seemed to be a tree house. There actually was a bed up there. It was almost identical to my old room. It sent a chill down my spine. I sat down on the bed, and Peter closed the door.

"What does me having to be sick-"

"Shhh," he interrupted. "He is watching through the window." He told me to lay down, and started to tuck me into bed. Peter kept looking back at the window to make sure Henry was still watching. He lightly kissed me on the forehead. The he went down back to the camp. Henry was still staring through the window. I gave him a small smile so he wouldn't feel too bad for me, and he gave me one back.

I waked up to see Pan in the tree house. I just stared at him. It was nice to look at him when he wasn't staring back at me. He seemed so normal. Like any other human being. Like he could have been my close friend.

"Why am I playing sick," I asked Peter. "What am I going to need a heart transplant or something?" I made sure he could hear the negativity in my voice.

He turned around, and leered at me. "Well every sickness needs a cure. And your sickness, will be lack of magic."

It sounded so absurd. Lack of magic? What did that even mean?

"Do you honestly think he is going to believe that? I am not like you. I don't need magic to survive."

Peter sighed and approached me slowly. He grabbed on to the end of my bed. "Simple. We will say that you got poisoned with dreamshade, and magic was the only thing now keeping you alive."

"So you're pretending to be the good guy here. That will never work," I spat.

"Funny how you are saying that Wendy... Wasn't I always the protagonist in your stories to Michael and John?"

There was no way he could have known that. It was too on key. He knew their names, and the room. Only his shadow had been there. The shadow could not talk. The only way he could know about all of this, was if he experienced it.

I started to growl at him. "How do you know their names. How do you know about the stories."

"My shadow isn't the only one who leaves Neverland," he whispered.

I wanted to ask why he visited me, but I did not. I was sort of afraid of the answer. I wanted to only know him from Neverland. Not remember him when I think back to the window in the nursery creaking. At least Bae was away before any of that happened.

"Peter? If I do win, do we still have our original deal? Will you let Bae go? Well if you find him. I won't be able to stand if he is back in that cage because of me."

He stopped. He decided not to turn around. "Well," he started, "You will just have to wait and see."

I was again alone. I wanted more than anything to run around. But, I had a game to play. A game where the only winner was Pan. I took the liberty to scream out in pain. If I was supposedly dying, I needed to act like it. I needed to be afraid of death.

Henry came up, and ran towards me. "What was that Wendy, are you okay?", he asked looking for some sort of injury. His eyes kept moving left and right, and then back again.

I began to lie to him. "Henry, it hurts so much."

His eyes widened. He truly was a sweet boy. "What, what does?" he stammered as his bed kept shaking..

"It is supposed to be a secret. The boys don't want to concern you.." I said through my teeth. I was not a good liar at all. Even when I desperately needed to be.

"You can tell me," he argued. "I need to know what is the matter."

My mouth opened, but I had a hard time trying to form the right words. "The magic here, is the only thing keeping me alive. But there is only a little amount of magic left."

Henry began pacing back and forth. He seemed like he was already brainstorming ideas. "How, how do we get more magic."

I couldn't tell him. I couldn't lie to him anymore. "You will have to ask Peter Pan."

I was left alone for the rest of the day. I only had my thoughts. My fears actually. There were some squeaks, and the door to the tree house opened. It was Peter. He slammed the door behind him.

"It is not working," he mumbled.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I sat up. It was almost as his veins were popping out of his arms.

"My plan!" he screamed as he pounded his hands against the drawer. This was the most angry I had ever seen him. He was actually showing some sign of emotion. He knew what would happen if his plan didn't work.

"His family, his family contacted him. They know better than he does. He is not believing me…" his voice drew off.

I knew the right thing to do would be to just agree with him. To say the plan would never work. But, I knew that there would be far more deaths if this didn't work, than if it did. Pan would make so many others suffer along with him. Henry had lived a happy life, and dying a hero would be the worst case scenario. Pan needed to believe he was still winning. He still had a chance.

"We will just have to make it more believable," I said as I put my hands around his waist. It wasn't in a sexual way, but more in a caring way. That I was here to protect him when he needed it. "That you love me so much, you would do anything to keep me alive."

Pan started to walk out of the treehouse, so I followed him. We had reached the ground, and there stood Henry. He frowned at Pan. But then smiled at me. He was not good at hiding emotions like Pan was.

I knew I could get him to believe in me, Peter though is a long shot. He just had this thing about him that made him seem like a hungry predator. Maybe it was the eyebrow?

"Feeling better Wendy," Henry said with a smirk on his face.

Both of us stopped. He was smarter than I put him out to be. He knew there was something suspicious going on.

"Actually no, Henry," I murmured. "It was just getting lonely in my room. I thought I could sleep out here tonight."

Henry gave a little grin. I saw Felix staring at me, wondering what game I was playing. It seems like I hadn't seen the lost boys in such a while. I was pretty lonely up in that treehouse. I didn't really notice it until now.

All the boys were asleep except me, Henry, and Peter. We were all laying close together. Henry was leering at Peter. Peter had of course noticed, so he looked right back at him. Henry pretended he was asleep to avoid confrontation.

I took my chance and moved closer to Peter. I made it look like I really needed him. He knew what I was doing. He knew that this was all part of the game, and just an act.

"Can I sleep next to you?" I whispered just loud enough for Henry to hear. Henry slightly moved his head so he could hear better.

Peter nodded, and I cuddled next to him. My head was in his chest, and for a moment, I forgot this was a game. It felt so nice to feel loved, even if it was fake. I leaned in closer and again whispered, "I don't want to die, I don't want to leave you." I tried to make my voice sound like I was holding back my tears.

Peter came closer, and he held me tighter. It was like he didn't want to let go. His mouth was right next to my ear and he whispered, "I don't want you to leave either."

I started to drowse off to sleep in the same position. Somehow I felt comfier here, than in the bed. I was about to be unconscious, but then I heard a muffled cry. Then Henry turned so he was facing away from me. I knew it was his cry. We played the part well enough. He didn't want this Wendy Bird to die.


	7. What Brings Comfort

I woke up without Peter. I wasn't sure if it was the morning or not. Neverland seemed to always be dark. Sunlight never reached it. But the moon definitely did. I looked to my other side, and saw that Felix was also gone. All the other lost boys were fast asleep. I then heard some footsteps, and saw Henry coming towards me. The first night in Neverland was always hard. I could understand his lack of sleep. He sat down next to me on the ground.

"Wendy," Henry whispered. He seemed to be not trying to wake anyone else up.

"What is it Henry?" I asked. He looked fearful of something. Of someone.

He took a deep breath. "Can I talk to you?"

I looked around. I knew he probably wouldn't want anyone else to hear us. "Lets go up to the treehouse, so no one will wake up," I requested.

Henry put a blanket on my shoulders, and helped me up. I forgot I was supposed to be sick. I made a fake cough, which actually sounded pretty real. He grabbed my hands while we were climbing up the ladder, and made sure to close the door tightly.

Henry's breathing started to get faster. It looked like he had been crying all throughout the night.

"Are you okay Hen-"

"No, no I am not," he interrupted. "My..My parents say that he is lying."

I pat on the bed to welcome him to sit down. I started to wipe the tears on his face like my mother had done to me years before. Like I had done to John and Michael. "Now who is lying?"

He started to calm down a bit. He took a big gulp. "Peter," he began. "They said he needed the heart to stay immortal... So he ,he wouldn't die. They said...he was evil. That he has killed many. But he hasn't done anything like that, right?"

This was the most torture I have ever been through on the island. He reminded me so much of my own brothers. Of when I was the only one who could calm them down. I wanted so badly just to tell him the truth. To tell him to go home.

"Henry, parents aren't always as good as they seem to be. As you grow up, you get to see their true colors. You want to leave and have some freedom, but they don't want their baby to go away. No matter how much pain you are having at home."

"Wendy, how could parents hurt you, how could-"

"They just do!" I yelled at him. "It is not fair at all. I first had a very happy childhood. I always told stories to my own brothers. My whole life was a happy ending. But, I wanted more. I became selfish. I craved an adventure. Everything spiraled downhill from there…"

Henry began to rub my back. He was now the one calming me. "Do you think I already had my happy ending?"

It was a hard question to answer. I had to be Henry. I had to spend everyday in shoes, everyday in his skin. "I honestly don't know," I answered. "Only you can tell."

Henry fell asleep right there in my bed. I decided to go back to camp to see if Peter and Felix were still gone, and they were. I knew I was not going to get any more sleep, so I decided to explore around. I needed to know the land. Every stone, every inclination.

After about an hour, I decided to head back to base to make sure no one was worried about me. I was walking, and I nearly tripped on a rope. It was pretty odd since I thought no one would be out at this time. I tried to find the end of it. I noticed it started to lead upward.

I thought I heard a muffled scream. I looked and the rope lead to a net. A net with Bae in it.

"Bae! Bae!" I screamed. It couldn't be happening. He was supposed to be safe once I let him go.

"Wendy!", he screamed in reply.

I needed something to cut the rope. A weapon of some sorts. It would be too long if I headed back to camp. I frantically looked all around me. I looked behind every tree. There was nothing. Then, I saw something reflecting about 10 yards away. I starting running towards it. Once I was mere inches away, I heard another voice.

"Aw Wendy," the voice said. "Looking for something?"

I slowly walked closer so I could see their face.

"Come out," I responded while trying to sound brave. One of the few good things I have learned from Peter.

A man walked out. He looked about in his late 20's. He had dark hair, blue eyes, and stubble. I noticed the thing that had been reflecting. It was a hook. A hook replaced for his left hand.

I tried to find the right words. "Are you-"

"I go by Hook. Needed a replacement for the hand your friend Peter cut off," he hissed.

He started to move towards me. I slowly backed away. His hook was right at my neck. I was backed into a tree. I had no where else to turn. If I moved an inch, the hook would be inside me.

"What do you want?" I gulped.

He started to give his own devilish smile. He was almost like an older version of Pan. His pink tongue came out of his mouth, and he started to lick his golden tooth. Pirates really were as disgusting as I heard.

"Henry," he mouthed. The second after he said that, my body flung upwards. I was now in my own net. Caught like a fish. Hook slowly walked away from me. Making sure I was watching everyone of his movements. He was so comfortable. He acted like he was the King of Neverland.

He was back near Bae's net, and lifted his hook. With his right hand he held the rope, and with the other he sliced right through it. It took a second for Bae's net to have the painful fall. A cage was one thing, but with a net he had no protection. It was quite cruel.

"I would hate to do this," he yelled as he grabbed Bae's weak body, "But I need the boy." He put his hook against Bae's neck. He started to make the cut. I covered my ears so I wouldn't have to hear the scream. It was no fair. Hook was twice his size, and age. It reminded me of the days with my father. How I could never defend myself for the life of me.

There was a tick tock and Hook stopped. He looked all around him. Fear was written all over his face. I was so focused on him, I didn't notice what was happening around me. My net opened up, and I fell right through. I screamed with pain. I could only imagine how much worse Bae's fall was. I turned my body and I saw a brown pair of boots.

I glared upwards to see Pan. He seemed to have a clock in hand. I turned my head to the left to see dark figures coming towards him. I thought they were the lost boys. But something was different. They were bigger, and had more buildup. One of the faces hit the moonlight. They had lines on their forehead. Grey bushy eyebrows, and a white beard. I knew we were dealing with people far worse than children.

"Peter run!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Peter was already up and ready with a sword. I started to stand up. We were getting cornered by pirates. More and more kept appearing. Apparently the whole crew had came for the fight.

"Peter.." I said with terror in my voice. Everyone around us were so much bigger. They had pegs for legs and tattoo sleeves. Their eyes craved blood. Blood of children.

"Here," he shouted as he threw a sword at me. "Protect yourself, but whatever you do, leave Hook to me."

He ran and charged right at the pirates. I just stood there. What did he mean by "leave Hook to me"? I broke free of my thoughts, and noticed three pirates surrounding me. I took my sword and instead of aiming at their swords, I aimed at them. With my eyes closed, I swung. I noticed that was sword was stuck. It was having a hard time moving. I opened my eyes to see that it was implanted in one of the Pirate's chest. The other pirates were stunned for a second like me.

"Peter... I think I need a new sword!" I shouted.

More Pirates were coming. I had to do it. Quickly with my eyes closed, I pulled the sword out. I told myself it was just blood. Blood that didn't belong to me. I opened my eyes, and just focused on my enemies. I swung and swung. More stomping came. I looked to see dark figures with hoods. There movements were like snakes. They acted as if this was their territory. I knew those movements, I knew it was the lost boys.

They all ran to their own group of pirates. Felix ran towards me and helped fight against my pirates. Why him? Why would he help me? I knew Felix would love nothing more than to see me sliced. I decided to just again focus on my fight. More pirates were falling than our own boys. I then remembered about Bae.

I looked around trying to find him. I wondered if he ran off. I turned to where Hook had left him. He was there. He looked in pretty bad shape. Hook and Pan were fighting right in front of him. I just had to take Bae, and run back to camp. Then he could be safe.

I put my sword in front of me, and ran faster than I never knew I could. I swung at anything and everything that was in my way. I dogged Hook and Pan, and went straight to Bae. I got down to my knees.

"Bae are okay! Please answer me," I grunted. I kept shaking his body. Making sure he wasn't dowsing off into unconsciousness.

He was badly injured. This was going to be harder than I planned. I looked around for help, but everyone else was distracted with their own enemies. I took his arm, and put it on my shoulder. I tried to lift him up. He couldn't get his legs to support him.

"Come on, you have to help me here," I whined. I was not strong enough to help him, even though he was my own size. It was like he just wanted to lay there and die already.

My body was beginning to be pulled back. I could smell rum. I kept trying to kick my way out. I knew it was Hook. He was as strong as you expected a captain to be. He pushed my head against a tree. He again put his hook on my neck. Ready any second to make the incision.

Hook began to laugh., and motioned towards Peter. "You try anything, and Wendy gets it."

Peter started to laugh himself. Like everything Hook said was just a big joke."You really think that is going to stop me?" He motioned his sword towards Hook.

"Silly child, how are you going to get the heart without her. Now, wasn't the heart supposed to cure her? You know, in the lie you told Henry. You selfish boy… If she is dead, you are right after her. Did you forget your days were numbered?"

Peter lowered his sword. He seemed to be eying something. I was wondering what he was doing. He mouthed the words go, and both me and Hook looked behind us. An arrow came flying in our direction. In a matter of second, the arrow lodged in Hook a meter away from his spine. I could tell it went in deep. He dropped down to the ground out of pain.

"Wendy, we need to go now," Peter demanded. He started to turn around. Completely forgetting that we were leaving someone.

"No," I growled. "Not without Bae!"

"We have no time Wendy. If we try he will get both of us." He gan to get even angrier. "Now!"

I didn't pay attention, and ran to Bae. Peter grabbed me from behind, and started to drag me back. My legs were above the ground. The only movement I got was through my ligaments.

"No! No!," I started to scream. Bae would die if I left him. He was all I had left. If he was in my position, he would have gone after me. He would have done anything to protect me.

I kept smacking Peter for him to let me go, though he kept his grip. I knew he was strong, but not that strong. I tried all my force to break free, but it was no use. Hook was starting to get up. And now Baelfire was his.


	8. Alone is Never Safe

Once we got back to the camp, we found that Henry was still fast asleep. I was rather glad, now we wouldn't have to explain to him what we were doing when we left. All the boys dropped to the ground with exhaustion. I just took my blanket, and headed over to the beach. I didn't care if I didn't have any permission, I had to collect my thoughts.

Looking out at the stars reminded me of all the nights I used to look out my window. They were the closest thing in my world to actual magic. I would always start to imagine a new world. A better world. I guess ironically I got what I wanted. It was like my stories were being told in a new, darker point of view.

I came here to not grow and face adult responsibilities. But I feel more like an adult here than I ever did at home. It came to my mind of how long I have been here. Time started to slip away from me. Have I been here for a few days, or a few weeks? I could only imagine how it felt for the other boys who have been here before.

I kept thinking about Felix said. How away from Neverland, you started to forget it. The more time here, I started to forget about home. The life I had before. I was escaping my old demons, but then stumbling into new ones.

There was a change of wind. A cold breeze. I turned around, and Peter was there.

"I don't want to talk," I asserted. I then turned around and looked back at the water.

"I don't understand why you are so upset. It is not like you are in any danger," he said as he sat down next to me.

I turned to him. I was filled with utter disgust. "It is not all about me. Maybe you would have learned that if you decided to grow up some more."

"I already know how to fight and fly. What else is there," he steamed.

"So much more Peter. You think you know it all, but you don't. Not even a bit of it."

"Like what?" he responded.

"Love," I whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"Love?" he questioned. "I have never heard of it." Hee basically spat on me. He was looking down on me again like I was so much lesser than him.

"I dare to say you've felt it yourself," I uttered.

Peter looked at me dead in the eyes. "Never, even the sound of it offends me."

Peter then walked away, again it was just me and the stars. Stars are beautiful, but they may not take part in anything, they must just look on forever.

I got up, and wiped sand off of me. I was ready to go to sleep. Then I could escape my thoughts. Then I will be filled with happy thoughts. As I turned around, there was something moving in the trees. I was startled, and started to move back into the water. It was so cold that it started to burn my skin. Was it always that cold?

There was more and more movement. The trees were shaking more violently. Louder and Louder they shook. Finally I could see something. I took a small step forward to get a better look.

There were robes, but no faces. But I needed no faces to tell me who they were. They were all like snakes. Snakes full of venom ready to attack. They started to circle me around the water.

None of them removed their hoods. The only light I could see was one from the flame of a torch one was holding. My gut told me that there was danger. I had to get out of there. I knew there was no way to move forward. I turned around and darted into the water. It was so cold and I started to gasp. My dress was pulling me down. I just had to keep swimming. There was another part of the island I could get to. Then I could run. Deep enough in, I dived underwater. I heard water splash behind me and tried to swim faster.

Something grabbed my ankles, and I tried to kick. Then another body grabbed my torso, and dragged me back up to the surface. The boy locked me tight with their arm, and swam back to the beach. I was let go of, and was allowed to lay down to catch my breath.

"What are you boys doing?" I cried.

One moved forward from the circle, and removed his hood. I could not see who it was at first. Once in the moonlight, I could see them bright and clear.

"Peter," I hyperventilated. There was still water in my lungs.

All the boys then removed their hoods in unison. Felix was the one with the torch. But there was also something in his other hand that was reflective. I could finally see clearly. It was a sword. He passed it to Peter.

"Peter… Please," I uttered.

"I am sorry Wendy," he whispered to me. He took the knife, and cut into my leg, and then pulled it straight out.

I shrieked in pain. There was something that made it more painful. It felt different from the one Pan used against my neck. Something new was in my blood. It would soon be trapped in my veins.

"What did you do to this?" I asked with despair. My body was all shaking. I wouldn't let go of my leg. I was not ready to face the wound. I was not yet ready to face the reality of the situation.

"Dreamshade," he answered. "Now we don't have to lie to Henry."


	9. Never Forget

"Peter you are going to Hell!" I screamed at him.

It all came back to my mind. He was describing how we were going to lie to Henry. That we would say I was poisoned by dreamshade. That magic would be the only thing keeping me alive..

Felix started to open up his coat. He reached inside his pocket, and pulled out a flask. He then handed it to Pan carefully, almost like he could not afford to drop it. Pan demanded him to take off the cap. He headed towards me. I knew he was going to make me drink it. He wouldn't have kept me alive this long, just to kill me.

"I am not drinking that. I would die myself to make sure you are gone for good," I countered.

Peter started to turn his head to the right. His left eyebrow moved upwards. "One girl is worth more use than 20 boys."

He pushed my head down to the ground. He pried open my mouth, and poured it all in at once. I started to choke on it. I tried to cough it back up, but it was too late. I felt it slither down my throat. I was beginning to feel very tired. My eyes slowly closed. Consciousness was leaving me.

My eyes slowly started to open. I almost thought I was back in the nursery. But then, I saw Pan in the corner of my eye. My vision was clearing. I was trying to recall what had happened to me. I saw some bits and pieces, but I could not put together the whole puzzle.

"Peter, what is going on?' I mumbled.

He turned around. "I was the hero. I had saved the Wendy Bird."

Everything started to come back. Every little detail of the night before. He came over, and sat on my bed. I didn't like that he said he saved me. I had saved myself far more times than he saved me.

"Peter," I begun, "You are only the hero in the stories. I think you are incapable of doing anything without a selfish intent."

He got off the bed, and gritted his teeth. He grabbed on the frame of the bed. His fists started to show his veins. "Have you ever thought I kept you alive, because I wanted to. Not for any other reason."

We stared at each other for a while. It was like we were the only two people on this island. Like even a bomb couldn't break our eye contact.

"I never forgot about you," he said very lowly as he stormed out of the room.  
_

It started to set on me. If was either me and Peter alive, or me and Peter dead. At least I didn't have to think about it too much. Henry kept visiting my room all day. I don't know where Peter went. Henry acted like a mother to me. It was pretty nice. I told him a lot of stories. It was like I was back to my happy times.

It was a rather dark night. The moon was hiding behind clouds. The wind kept opening up the window. My leg still hurt, so I didn't want to get up. It kept slamming and slamming, so I got up. I tried using the bed to help me. Slowly and carefully I went over to the window. I was about just to slam it, but something wasn't right. I could sense it.

The trees were again moving. They kept shaking and shaking. It was so dark, I couldn't tell what was going on. What appeared was a shadow. I couldn't tell who. They were rather husky. I thought it might have been Pan or Felix. They put up their hand. I darted downward so they couldn't see me. There wasn't a hand there. It couldn't be. Why would he come back? I tried to look for a hiding spot. There was only one exit to the treehouse.

I crawled to underneath the bed. This brought back so many memories. The night we were waiting for the shadow to come. When we all hid under my bed to make sure no one would get snatched away. I heard creaking on the ladder. Where were the lost boys? Why were they not stopping him? There was an added light, and I could tell the door had opened. I held my breath. I cradled myself.

I counted the steps. That was the only way I could think to tell here he was heading. They were slow, devious. It went one...two...stop. I didn't know what he was doing. It started to get silent. For a minute I heard nothing. Then there was a creak, and a light. The light left. I thought I was alone. I thought I was safe. I exhaled through my nose. But then there was a shadow. A shadow with a hook. A near second later, my torso was being pulled.

I smacked and kicked and punched. Nothing that would even bother an old man. I had no clue what to do. I could not win this fight by myself…

"Peter! Peter!" I screamed with terror.

"You really think the boy will come for you?" Hook chuckled.

Hook opened the door to the treehouse. He tried to push me out. He was just like any bully. I thought being an adult, you were supposed to grow out of those things. Maybe adults some time needed more growing up then children.

He pushed my back with all his might. I fell right through. The fall hurt so badly. Pirates were circling me. I screamed with pain. Every inch of my body burned. I wanted right then and there to just die. I was an empty soul stuck in a broken body. My stories never went this far. They were never supposed to. The memory was a good enough happy ending.

"Peter!" I screamed once again.

I just wanted him there. I couldn't describe it. Tears started to form in my eyes. He was all I had left, even though he had been the one who had taken everything away. But he didn't forget about me….

Hook dragged my body upwards. Someone put a blindfold on my eyes. Another put a dusty old rag in my mouth. Hook took the liberty of tying up my hands. I tried to scream and scream. But no one could hear me. I was going to have to be my own hero like so many times before in my life.

My blindfold was removed from my face. I could see my surroundings. I was on Hook's ship. The Jolly Roger.

Hook walked in front of me. He leered at me. "Wendy, I think you know what I want." He then removed the rag from my mouth. I started to cough.

"Henry isn't just saving one life anymore," I uttered.

Hook turned to me. He was smart enough to know what I meant, to create his own story of what happened.

"You really think your life is worth more than the boy's?" He scoffed. "Wendy, this boy actually has a family. Something to live for." He got closer and grabbed my face. "Darling, the world wouldn't even notice if you were gone."

I spit right in his eye. He couldn't do that to me. I had thought that so many times before in my life. If I was gone, the birds would still chirp. The sun would still rise. The grass would still be as green. Life would still go on.

"Even with you saying that to me, I will still get better sleep at night than you ever can. I don't know how you can begin to live with yourself," I announced. "You are more of a child than anyone on this island."

He took his Hook, and pushed me down to the ground. He was about to speak, but then we heard a tick tock. Like the sound of a clock. He had stopped the last time he heard it. I was trying to wonder why he was so afraid of it. Then I remembered back to one of my first nights on this island.

"Afraid he has a hunger for you?" I sneered at Hook.

He looked at me. "Stowaways belong on the bottom decks."

He grabbed me by my tied up hands. He pushed me forward with his hook scratching against my back. I tried to make my legs stay strong on the ground. It served no use. He opened up a door, which led to an empty stairwell. He took his leg, and kicked me in. I heard a slam of the door. The only lights were from the portholes.

I needed to get my hands undone. I could see a nail hanging out from the wall. I crawled over, and moved by hands back and forth against it. Since I couldn't see what I was doing, I kept cutting into my skin. The rope ripped. I slowly stood up, and then fell down again. Out of the window, I saw that the clouds once covering the moon, were moving out of the way. I finally had some light. I could see the room better now.

I could see that I was not the only one in the room.

"Who are you?" I yelled. I looked to my right, and there was an empty candle holder. I grabbed it, and decided to use it as a weapon. I slowly walked forward, ready to hit anything that came at me.

"Same choice of weapon," a voice chuckled.

I knew that voice. I knew what they meant. A huge grin came across my face. Things were starting to go right. Hope filled my eyes.

"Bae!" I screamed with happiness.

I ran over to him, and hugged his body. I didn't want to let go.

"Oh Bae I-" I stopped myself from speaking. There was blood on the ground, and on my dress. I looked more closely at Bae. His whole shirt was soaked with blood. Bae wasn't that big. How, how could he have that much blood? His facial expression showed me he was in a lot of pain.

Bae began to speak. "Wendy I-"

"No!" I interrupted. "Everything is going to be okay. You will be okay."

I got up, and looked for something to cover the wound. I found a coat, and laid it over his stomach.

"Wendy!" Bae muttered as he grabbed my hand. "You don't have to do this. You have done enough."

"No!" I shouted. "Everything that happened to you was my fault. It is all my fault."

I was trying to hold back tears to be strong for him. This couldn't be happening to me.

"Wendy, you don't understand," he whimpered. "Meeting you, being apart of your family was the best thing that happened to me."

I kept hugging his body. I didn't want to let go. I knew I needed him, but I didn't realize how much I needed him. I knew what was coming next.

Bae again opened his mouth again. "I will miss you-"

"No!," I cried. "Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting."

His eyes started to close. He started to speak in a soft whisper. "It doesn't have to though.."

He stopped moving. I kept shaking him. His eyes were not opening.

"Bae! Bae no! I need you to open your eyes, and wake up. You can do that for me right?"

I didn't expect any answer, and I got what I expected. I just kept shaking him. It was no fair. No one should be forced to see fake hope. No one should be forced to see someone die twice. No one should ever see that much blood from someone you loved.

I didn't even know what caused that big wound. All I saw was him taking a big fall from the net. Was Hook cutting his neck. I never knew what happened when he was in the cage. When he was taken back to this ship. The moon was again covered. All the little light of Neverland was gone.

I started to calm down. I gave him a final hug.

"I won't forget about you either," I whispered to him, so no one else could possibly hear. Those words were all his. I moved his hair, and kissed him on his forehead.

I walked away. I forced myself to not look back. I took all my might to walk up the stairs. To sit and wait at the top of the steps. I was going to live. I was going to keep trying. If he couldn't have a happy ending, then I would have one for him.


	10. The Power to Rise Again

I kept banging and banging on the door. It was the only thing distracting me. I needed to stay sane, I could not handle being locked in the same room as a dead body. I kept banging louder and louder. My arm was starting to hurt really bad. I just stopped, and stared at the wood. Doing the strangest things were able to calm me down. I tried to imagine being on the other side of the door.

Stopping my knocking, I could hear voices of the people outside. They were very low. I turned and put my ear up to see if I could hear better. There was a conservation going on. I closed my eyes so I could put all my power into one sense.

"Where is she?" a muffled voice said.

It took me a second to grasp their identity. My mind wouldn't let it process. There was no use in knowing information, if you didn't understand it. I didn't want to believe it was Peter.

"I have no clue what you are talking about," none other than Hook uttered.

"I think you do," Pan raged.

"Have you ever thought she may have ran away," Hook retorted.

It was silent for a while.

Hook laughed. "Peter what good have you ever done to her? It is good to watch birds from a distance, but once you put them in a cage, they resent you."

I heard a clunking of medals. They sounded like very swift motions.

"You will tell me where she is now, Hook!," Peter roared.

"Or what?" Hook asked. "You are going to be dead in a few days. There will be no more magic. No more Neverland, or as it seems in the stories."

"She can't leave the island though.." Peter seemed to mumble. It was more like his mind was talking.

"Well she actually can. It would lead to her death, but Wendy wants death more than anything. That glimmer in her eye when she first came here, is gone. You took everything away from her. She will forever loathe you.. You are always the one she will blame.."

There was now slamming and more metal clinging. It scared me. There was yelling and shouting. It was getting very windy, and one of the windows broke. I went down to the ground. It seemed like there was a huge storm. Almost like the natural disasters back in our own realm. All the windows were breaking. Glass was flying everywhere. I had to get out of there.

I looked around for a weapon. Something to break open the door. There was nothing strong enough. All the furniture was nailed down to the ground since it was a ship. It was like everything around me was closing in. The smell of Bae's lifeless body got stronger. The blood was moving with the ship. This was my own personal torture chamber.

I went back up to the door. I could do this. I would use my good leg. It was a weak ship, that belonged to an evener weaker pirate.

I was no longer the weak Wendy. The world was not going to hurt me anymore. Every good story had its conflict, and I just had to find my courage and face it.

I took all of my anger and rage since I was on the island, and used it to kick the door. It broke open. The wind blew it outward. It was far worse out there than I could imagine. There was fighting all around me. The lost boys were all there along with Peter. The rain was falling hard on them, but they were still going at it.

A sword flew to the ground next to me. It almost blasted cut into me. I picked it up. It was my time to fight. I took the sword, and saw Hook. I held the sword up like I was the captain. I don't care what Pan said, Hook was mine. He made me watch Bae die. He was the reason I couldn't help him. If he had to die, there was going to be some honor to it.

I walked forward with my head held high. Whenever someone tried to hit me with their sword, I just sliced at their hand. I noticed the lost boys watching me with amusement. I kept walking, and there was Hook. He was fighting with Peter.

I took my sword, and sliced right at his hook. It flew right off of him. Hook and Peter both turned around and looked at me.

I was having a hard time breathing. I took a deep breath and near whispered, "This is no longer child's play."

I screamed, and started swinging my sword. He took his, and nearly tried to break open my skull. I used my sword for protection. We kept swinging back on each other. It was hard to keep up with the wind. Water was all in my face. It was a storm from bloody hell.

Back and forth we went. We both slipped, we both sniffled our noses. Nothing but our choices separated us.

I was about to strike Hook, but then I saw in the corner of my eye a huge wave coming. It would certainly topple over the entire boat.

When I faced Hook again, his sword was heading towards me. But then I was pushed out of the way. Getting up, I saw that Peter got the worse of it. Water then flushed in, and all I saw was black.

My eyes opened. Salt was burning them. All I saw was the darkness of the ocean. I needed air. I kicked my legs back. My throat was burning. I kept kicking and kicking, until I could inhale air. My body was immediately hit by a wave.

The ship was right next to me. I just couldn't go back on it. Even if I was safe now, my life would be more in danger than ever before later on.

I saw the land. I would have to dive under to be able to get there. I closed my eyes, and held my breath. I kept swimming, pulling my lifeless body. After a minute or so, I would go back for air. Land wasn't that far away. But I was completely exhausted. I just stared out at all the water. There was so much. I could not conquer it. Though, I wasn't the only one fighting either.

There was other souls in the water. They were tails that were barely visible. They would not take mercy on my soul. The only one of them who wanted me alive was the queen, the queen whom Peter had killed...

That was enough inspiration to keep swimming. I knew they would come after me. I went down under. I kept kicking and kicking even though my body was screaming at me. I went longer intervals without pulling my head back up. When I did, I saw I was only a few yards away. But when I looked back, the tails were also the same distance.

"Oh shit," I screamed.

I kept moving and moving, but I felt grabbing at me. I just kept looking upward. I needed to keep going. My head was pushed under water. I kicked at the tail, and they let go. But more and more kept coming to me with the same intentions. I did not know how to make them go away. I decided to do the only thing from my memory that worked. I showed them my teeth, and hissed at them. I was dominant, not them. I had two battlefields, where they could only survive one. They hissed back at me, and went back to ever so black endless ocean.

Once I got to the beach, my dress felt so heavy. I just sat down, and tried to catch my breath. I didn't even know where I was. I hoped I was at least close to the camp. I took my time, and stood back up. It felt like I was going to throw up. One step at a time, I made it back into the forest. My wounded leg, was back at square one.

I kept limping and limping, until I could find the comfort of a tree to lean against. I closed my eyes and imagined the Neverland I thought I knew. I opened to see smoke. Not smoke of a forest fire, but of a camp fire. I was close. I could make it.

The view kept me going. I kept wheezing. My rib hurt so much, I started to screech.

Henry found me with his eyes. He ran to me. He had so much energy. Well at least compared to myself.

"Wendy, are you okay?" he asked me. "What happened to you?"

He was surveying my body. He knew how damaged I looked.

"Henry," I hyperventilated, "I will tell you later. Just please help me back to camp."

Even though he was smaller than me, he helped as much as he could. He pushed my body forward while I leaned at him. We were finally there.

The lost boys were all huddled. How did they even all get there? I barely made it back. I was quite nary not one of them thought to come back to me. They saw me eying them. They slowly moved their bodies so I could see what they were looking at. My eyes grew huge.

There was as much blood as before. All from the same area as before. I lost the same hope as before. If I had stayed in the spot, that would be fate.

Peter was shaking his body, but his eyes wouldn't open. I had never seen him this vulnerable. The adventure of dying was definitely different than he figured. You couldn't keep your strength, as much as you tried.

Henry was rubbing my back. I lowered my body down. It was not happening. I didn't deserve this. There was no way I could keep my strength. I hit the ground. I started to scream my lungs out.

"God dammit," I screeched.

Hook was a son of a bitch. He did this. I didn't care what Peter had done, he was not leaving. I was not going to let him leave me.

I tried my best to stop myself from crying. I wiped my tears with my sleeves.

I started to stand up, I wiped the dirt from my dress.

"We need to close him up." I demanded. "He is loosing too much blood."

Felix eyed me. "How do you suppose we do that," he hissed.

"I know how to sew," I explained.

Felix looked back at me. "Are you crazy? It will never work."

"It will just be like getting stitches. If you don't mind Felix, I will need a needle and some thread."

All the boys just stared at me. Felix stared at me. He knew that I wanted the same thing that he did.

"Go boys!" Felix commanded. "We must have it somewhere."

I got right above Peter. He was shirtless, but still had so much blood. I could do this. It was my fault this had happened to him.

I waited impatiently for the boys to come back.

"Here," they said as they passed me a roll of thread, and a small needle. You really could find anything on this island.

I saw to imagine myself making a dress. I saw the skin as any other fabric. The first incision was the worst. I made it as tight as possible. Back and forth and again I went. None of the lost boys dared to distract me. As I got farther down, it became easier. It was disgusting, but the blood seemed to be going away. I was almost to the end.

"Hand me a knife," I directed.

The boys were eying me with fear in their eyes.

"It is to cut the thread," I reassured.

Tootles passed me one. He was the last I expected to have one. I took a single swing, and cut the thread.

I looked at my work. It was as good as I could get it. I really hoped this would work.

"Take him back up to the treehouse. Keep a close eye on him," I ordered.

They all left, even Henry. He had a way of knowing I wanted to be alone. I sat back down. I wished I actually was a bird. Then I could fly away. I would have enough faith in myself that I could reach my destination. Enough trust in the world that I could have a smooth flight. No pixie dust would be needed. That is the thing about creating your own magic.


	11. The Only One Who Matters

By the beach I had awaken. There was a hand over my mouth. I slowly opened my eyes to see who was awaiting me. What first hit me was shiny blue eyes. The ones you want to jump and splash in. Then there was gold locks. It sparkled like the moonlight. Almost like a little star,.

"Tink," I tried to speak.

She looked behind her. "We need to go some place farther away. Can I trust you not to scream?"

I first thought she was joking. Why would I scream at her? Every time she looked back to the direction of the camp, her pupils started to dilate.

I nodded in agreement. She helped me up. My leg hurt so badly. I wanted to scream, but I needed to keep my word. Tears started to fill my eyes. If my leg got any worse, I probably won't be able to walk again.

It seemed like we were walking for forever. The island was endless. I kept thinking we would stop, but we didn't. She really did mean somewhere far away.

She stopped me right at the top of the island. It was the very edge. I looked down to see sharp rocks, and harsh water. For a fairy, she picked a very dark place.

"Wendy," she began. "Peter cannot have that heart…"

I was so sick of people trying to make my decisions for me. They only thought of themselves.

"Well I am sorry, but I need that heart just as much as him," I muttered with rage.

Tink stared at me. Trying to understand me almost by looking through my eyes. "You know this is wrong Wendy. Taking the heart for yourself."

I took a deep breath. "Earlier you were the one who told me to follow by his rules. So that is what I am doing. But now I have to stop when it hurts someone else. What about me? Do you ever think of how doing this affects me? No because apparently only Henry matters," I proclaimed.

She started to circle me. "I have seen the way you look at Pan. That thing that you are starting to grow fond of, is not a boy, but a devil. He may be beautiful, but it is all a disguise. When you look at him, I want you to see all the ones he has killed. All the childhoods he took away. All the years he has actually been on this island for. What he did to make sure he would never grow up."

I stayed silent. I knew Tinkerbell wanted me to hear every last of her words.

"Those lost boys, they fear for their lives. You are lucky to be alive. Once you step foot on Neverland, there is no going back," she expressed.

"I got to leave though," I disagreed.

"Where are you standing now?" she asked me.

"So I will just die then," I argued.

I put my head down in my lap. The only reason I was living was for Bae. He risked his life for my story. But my story was not done yet.

Tink came down to my level, and again started to speak. "I know what you want, peace with the world. Sometimes death is the only way to get it. He was the one who cut you. He made it so you both live, or both die. If I could help you, I would. Would you rather die right now to be the hero, or stay alive and become an villain?"

There was a sound behind the trees. Tink eyed them.

"I must go," she whispered.

She could not fly, but she ran as though she was. Like a feather she was being swept away. It didn't even make a sound.

There was a tapping on my shoulders, and I turned around.

"What are you doing?" Felix uttered.

I was always bad at lying. I didn't know how to answer with him knowing about my leg. How could I have gone so far off without any help?

"I heard the mermaid sirens," I responded. "I do not remember how I had gotten so far. I was just following the voices."

Felix eyed me like he knew that I was lying to him. He got closer to me. I wanted to move backwards, but I couldn't go too close to the edge. All it took was a slip.

"We can't find Henry," Felix stated.

Felix helped me back to camp. Once we got there, I saw Pan standing next to the fire. He acted like nothing happened to him. Like he was in no pain at all.

"He wasn't with her," Felix announced.

"We need to look for him. He can't be too far, this is unknown territory to him," Peter began to describe.

It seemed so odd for Henry to run away. He wouldn't leave me in the condition I was in. He was a smart child.

"He didn't run away," I mumbled.

They all heard me. Peter leered at me. He started to walk up towards me.

"What makes you so certain?" he asked in a low devilish voice.

I knew I shouldn't have said anymore. That I should just let Henry run free. Every boy taken by the shadow has to at least want to leave home. To go to somewhere new. Henry had to be under the same consequences. The truest believer should not have to face the torture of living in a world without magic.

I kept thinking if he would have the same experience at home after going to Neverland like I did. I would not wish my worst enemy that pain.

"Who is the one who wants your head on a stick," I sneered back at Pan.

He knew what I had been thinking.

"How much time do we have left?" I asked him with concern in my voice. Now we were a mere inches away. I hate to admit it, but like anyone else I also fear death.

"Less than you think," he whispered in my ear.

He slowly started to walk away from me.

"How was he able to find our hideout?" Felix asked.

All eyes went to him. Apparently everyone had the same idea, but was not brave enough to say the words. Even Pan looked for a second, but then stopped.

Peter seemed to be looking for something. It was like he had night vision by the way he was surveying the land. He grabbed one of the swords on the ground. He raised it very slowly. I was wondering what he was doing, we all were. Slowly he headed forward. Like a snake ready for an attack. No one dared to follow him.

"Tinkerbell," Peter finally growled.

He pulled at something, and we heard a woman's scream. There I saw Tinkerbell with Pan's sword at her throat.

"Peter no!" I screamed while the lost boys were pulling my body back.

I betrayed her. She would just see me as a traitor. She didn't deserve any of this. She was the only one here who hadn't done anything.

He took a single swipe, and she fell to the ground. Blood began to appear.

I finally pulled hard enough, and the boys couldn't keep their hold on me. My knife was still in my pocket. I pushed his body against the tree.

"You bastard!," I both screamed and cried at the same time.

He started to grin at me. Proud I wanted to stand up for myself. "You have fire Wendy, I like fire," Pan retorted. He said it in a very sexual way. As a way to distract me.

I stopped what I was doing, and realized that anger was going to get me nowhere. What was my knife compared to his sword. I went to Tinkerbell's body.

He picked up his sword. He circled my body, and I could feel his eyes on me.

"To the Jolly Roger," Pan shrieked.

All the boys followed with a chant. I stayed there next to Tinkerbell. I tried to listen for a heartbeat. She wasn't dead, at least yet anyways.

I ran to go look for my needle and thread. They had so much stuff lying around. I then remembered where Pan's body had laid. I went there, and it was still there.

I grabbed it and ran back. I broke into her skin, and I could hear her shriek. I didn't care. This wound certainly wasn't as big as Pan's. From the corner of my eye, I could see her sparkling eyes staring at me.

"You aren't going to die!" I yelled. "If he wanted you dead you would've been dead already."

I didn't exactly believe the words I was saying. He just wanted to punish her before he went to go get the heart. I did not know if he wanted her dead or not.

I kept stitching without her trying to utter a word. I needed to focus on something else. The small things kept one from going mad.  
I was finally done. It seemed tight enough. I didn't know if she was going to be able to still talk.

"I need you to leave now," I demanded. "Do not go to the Jolly Roger. Hide and do not come back here."

"Okay," she mumbled with a tear in her eye.

"Now!" I screamed.

I didn't help her up. She had to go by herself. I knew I was being cruel to her, but not as cruel as leaving her to die. If she was a traitor, I wanted nothing to do with her.

She walked away without looking back. I wanted to call out to her. It was hard letting go of her. But better safe out there then Peter coming back and seeing an extra breathing soul.

I looked around the campsite to see if there was anything useful. There was a pile of clothing, and I decided to soak it into the river. Once finished, I looked for what would fit me.

I found a brown leather jacket, and some black leather pants that looked decent. I changed into them, and they had fit well enough. I found some red boots by a tree trunk, and put them one. I looked at my dress, it looked so girly and innocent. So many bad memories were involved with it. I laid it down on the river, and took a big rock and threw it at it to make it drown.

I had my choice of weapons. The only kill I made was with a sword, so it had to do.

I made sure to keep the needle and thread with me in my pocket. I knew I had to go to the Jolly Roger. I had no idea whose side I was on. But I needed to stop being afraid, and start fighting for what I want. I took a deep breath, and started onto my adventure.


	12. Hiding Demons

I knew I was never going to survive if I just tried to make my way there without a plan. I picked up a stick that was close by, and started drawing in the dirt. I wanted to make my own map of the island.

My mind was working hard to visualize back to years ago. What it looked like soaring above. When the shadow was taking me here. I could only contour up that it was shaped like an arrow head. Well, it was a start. I drew the shape in the dirt. Okay. Tinkerbell took me to the top of the island, and it was pretty far away from camp. It didn't seem that long when returning back from my last fight. But the ship could've been moving at the time.

All this detective work, seemed so useless. The island was huge. It was a place meant for hiding spaces and unknown adventures. I was going to need some help.

If I hadn't sent Tink off, she could've helped me find the ship. If she had listened to me, she would be going as far away from The Jolly Roger as she could. The mermaids certainly know plenty of the island, but they surely would drown me if I got close enough to ask. Who else was there? The only other people I could think of were the- the fairies!

I immediately ran back to the tree they were camping out in. They were to the right of the tree that seemed to be shinier than the other. Pretty smart idea to say the least to not stay in the seemingly magical one. I looked up above me, and I saw a sparkle. I ran to the next tree over, and started to climb. Step after step I went, and there was a faint glow.

It wasn't nearly as bright as before. I located the hole, and put my head in. They were all turned away from me. I was trying to get a glimpse of what they were all focused on. I breathed too hard, and the fairies turned to face me. They saw my curiosity and showed me what was so interesting.

There was a fairy. She was lying down. She looked dead cold. Not one sparkles was left. Seeing the expressions from the others, they were very sad. Apparently magic was also keeping them alive. She was dead. I slowly put my hand in the hole, telling the other fairies with my eyes that I meant no harm.

I grabbed her body, and held it with both my hands. She was the size of a baby bird. Even dead, you could tell that she used to hold so much light. There was only one other thing. A thing other than magic that could keep a fairy alive and breathing. I pulled her closer to me.

"I do believe in fairies," I whispered. "I do. I do"

She stayed cold. Completely unaffected by my words. You had to feel the belief for this to work. They needed to be more than words, but of a way of life.

I began to start yelling. "I do believe in fairies! I do, I do!"

I was beginning to cry. She was so precious. Fairies were the purest creatures. To see one die was a metaphor of our world starting the end.

"Please," I began to mouth.

Light started to form in her wings. She slowly opened her eyes. I began to laugh since I was so happy. She flew up in the air. Almost like a dragonfly. She went back in the hole, and acted like she thought she would never be home again. They motioned to me, as if it was now my time to speak.

"I need directions to The Jolly Roger," I informed.

The one I had saved, flew deeper in the hole. Two others went after her. They were grabbing something. It looked gold. The three flew to me, and laid the object in the palm. It was a compass. But a compass only worked if you knew what direction you were supposed to go.

They sensed my confusion. The fairy who looked to be their leader, came flying to me. Up close to my ear, she started to speak.

"The arrow will point to where your destiny lies," she announced.

"Thank you," I whispered.

All of them headed back into the hole, and were all smiling since they got their friend back. Fairies were so simple creatures. They never had any tricks, they just knew about fairness without being taught.

Carefully, I climbed down the tree. The arrow at first spun, but then it stayed put. I took a deep breath, and hoped that this would work.

I focused so much of my attention on the compass, I didn't even realize how much time was going by. I trusted the fairies, I knew a gift from them would work. It said to keep going forward.

I thought it was broken because it wasn't changing direction at all. I hit the object, and the arrow kept spinning and spinning.

"Come on," I mumbled.

The spinning contained, and I began to get very frustrated. I kept tapping on it, which I knew was not going to work.

The compass was then snatched from me.

"Hey-", I began to say.

A girl younger than me had taken it. She had two black braids, and paint on her face.

She took a feather from her hair, and put it in mine. I smiled at her, and she smiled back at me. She held out her hand, awaiting me to grab it. Slowly and cautiously, I grabbed it. She yanked me and we were both running. I saw the flames of the fire, and she instantly stopped.

"Princess Tiger Lilly," I assumed it was the chief who said. They all bowed down, and I followed in their footsteps.

So a princess wanted me. What greater feeling could there be. She was quite young for a princess, but she seemed bright for her age. She knew how to communicate without speaking, a skill I always wished for.

Tiger Lilly took my hand again, and sat me down in the middle of the circle of people. She then pointed to my left leg.

I was not quite sure what she was doing. And then I remember the injury. I nodded, and she smiled.

Everyone started to close the circle. It got very quiet. In unison, they began a chant. It was quite beautiful actually. A different beauty from the mermaids or fairies. They all worked together, to make it so pleasing to the ears. The Chief then walked from the circle, to me.

He patiently lowered my head to the ground, and pushed my legs down. He had a gently touch to him. He put his hands over my leg, and again began to sing. It was only him singing this time. The voice was so powerful. You wanted more than you knew you could get. It was over before I knew it.

Tiger Lilly ran to the circle, and helped me up. She was again running with me hand in hand. She gave me back the compass. After a minute, I could see the Jolly Roger. How did she know what I was looking for?

"Thank you," I told her.

She pointed to my leg, and gave me a thumbs up. I began to notice, the pain was going away. Not completely, but it was better. Whatever they did worked. I gave her a thumbs up back.

Tiger Lilly gave me a goodbye hug, and was on her way.

The compass stopped spinning, and was directing towards the ship. It was getting farther away from land every minute. Trusting my leg would be okay, I started running. I got nearly to the end of land, and knew I was going to have to swim. It would only get farther away.

I took a deep breath, and dived into the water. Swimming was quite hard with a sword in hand. Like a propeller, I did not stop moving. The water was much calmer than before, and the ship wasn't as fast as I thought it would be. It must have taken damage from the last storm.

I was now next to the ship, but there was no way I could climb up to the top deck. There was only a small window. My hand pushed against the window, but it was locked.

An idea struck my mind, and I raised my sword. I put my right hand back, and jabbed it through the glass. It completely shattered. I kept hitting it until all the excess glass was out of the way. I threw in the sword, and tried to climb in. I could feel little bits and pieces of glass cutting me. Once my torso went through, I completely fell into the ship.

I turned my head upward, and there was a glorious sight to behold.

"Henry?!" I screamed.

I thought I was in the same room I was previously locked in, but this one was different. It was a supply room. There were maps, nets, swords, and a single jail cell which held Henry.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"Leave Wendy," Henry roared.

I was shocked by his tone. The bright eyes of him, were now dark as night. His teeth seemed more like fangs now.

"Why are you acting-"

"You are all liars," he proclaimed. "My parents are working with Hook. He said that Pan was evil. That he killed many. That he needed the heart to stay alive. And you helped him."

I took a deep breath in and out. "Yes Henry, you're right. But you see, I do need the heart to stay alive. Without it, all the magic in Neverland will be gone. No more fairies, no more place for children to escape."

He leered at me. "Escape? The boys don't want to be here. They can't go home. Pan is making them have an eternal nightmare. I can finally be the hero and stop him."

I put my hand on my forehead. I could not believe this. "Why is being a hero so important to you?" I asked.

"Wendy, all of my family are heros. I feel like I don't belong with them. What if I never get the chance again? I want to make them proud. What type of son would I be if I didn't try my best to do good in the world." he explained.

"That doesn't matter Henry! You are going to learn that you could travel to the end of the earth for your parents, but they won't see it as enough. You are good enough for just being you. I know you want them to love you, and they already do. Okay and even if they don't, screw them," I said with tears filling my eyes.

Henry kept shaking his head back and forth.

"I don't want to save Peter if he is going to keep doing bad things. He locked you in a cage. He tried to kill Tinkerbell. He poisoned you with dreamshade-"

"How do you know all these things?" I asked.

"Captain Hook told me. Pan won't let him leave. He is trapped here, and says that we can all go home. He seems like the only person here who is at least trying to stop Pan."

"You see Hook as the good one here, don't you?" I questioned him.

"He just wants to get me back home," he responded.

Anger took over me. I had to let it go. I kicked over all the swords in the room. The sound nearly made my ears bleed.

"Okay we lied. We are all liars. But… But Hook in no way is the good guy here! He would do anything to make sure we don't have the heart, and I mean anything. He made me watch my friend die. He tried to kill me with a sword. But physical pain isn't his strong suit. Mentally he destroyed me beyond words."

I was probably sounding like a crazy person. I was basically crying and screaming these words at him. I gave Henry my death stare.

"He- he makes everything seem like it is your fault. That you don't even deserve to live. This- this bastard is just like my fucking father. He is a drunk! Henry, can you smell the rum on his breath?"

He backed away from me. He saw me as a threat. He trembled with fear. I couldn't stop myself.

"Every nightmare I have had, is back here with him! This is why I escaped. I couldn't live like that. I couldn't live with so much guilt. Of knowing nothing will be in my favor. That I asked for it. You want to believe you are a good person, but why, why do bad things happen when you try so hard?"

I put my head in my lap. I tried to wipe my tears. I gave up. I sat there and cried for five solid minutes. I needed to get it out. My demons needed to get out of their hiding place. They needed to fly free like the birds in the sky.

I ended up whispering to Henry. "So yes." I wiped some more tears. "The boys here have to stay against their will. But thats because they start to forget why they left in the first place. Peter is still a child. Children can only hurt others so much. But parents, parents can get rid of every shred of hope you have. Hope is the only thing that makes our world better than Hell."

I grabbed my compass from my pocket. It stopped spinning. It pointed over to the desk drawer. I walked over, and it was locked. My sword laid next to me, so I grabbed it. I jiggled it between the two slice of wood, and then the drawer popped open. A single shiny gold key was there.

"There is always a spare," I muttered as I unlocked the door.

I didn't open the cell door. I left that to Henry. I went to the room's exit. Of course it was locked. I kicked my foot against the door about ten times. I raised my foot again, and went right for the lock. It budged.

Cautiously, I walked on the deck. There was only one person there. A pirate who probably worked below decks. His skin was very dirty. It was quite sad. He looked only in his twenties and had to spend his existence on this mutiny ship.

"Where is everyone," I gulped.

He looked at me. He had stunning blue eyes. "Skull rock," he muttered.

It wasn't that far away. I could swim there. I knew I shouldn't ask any more from the pirate. My compass pointed to that location. It was now my chance.

"I can get there myself," I murmured.

I started to walk away. But then I turned back to him. He looked so sad. Like he completely gaven up on everything. Every joy was drained from his blood.

"Here," I said as I passed him the compass. "Can you give this to Henry? Tell him it will lead him to where he needs to be."

The pirate just nodded. I walked closer to him.

"I still have hope in you," I whispered close to his ear so only he could hear. "You just need faith... To have faith, is to have wings."

I walked away from him, I was at the edge of the boat. Slowly I turned my head back, and he stared at me. He mouthed the words "thank you". I smiled at him, and then flung my body into the water. It never felt so refreshing before.


	13. Tick Tock

While I was swimming, I noticed things about the island that I never did before. If you listened, you could hear the faint cries of children. Or, the twinkling of the stars. The waves rushing against the shore. It came to my attention that I might not be here too much longer. A ringing came to my ear. I soon realized it wasn't ringing. It was quite similar to the sound of a clock. Tick tock. Tick Tock.

It became louder and louder, like my time was running out. I knew it was a bad idea to stop swimming, but it was making me crazy. Slowly I turned my head to the left, then to behind me. There were big splashes of water. Something started to come forward out of the waves. It was green and slimy, I thought it was a mermaid's tail. But then the eyes, the eyes were nearly black. Maybe it was a shade darker. Sparkling white then came, it hurt my eyes.

My eyes grew twice their size. The sparkling white was from teeth, waiting to devour my flesh. Quickly I turned around, and flapped my arms. I imagined myself as a bird, I was just trying to fly away. I heard it's teeth bite down. The tick tock sound grew louder and louder. Skull rock was mere feet away. It was not over.

The animal kept biting down. Inches from my toes. I reached surface, and noticed there was no where to run. Just a ledge, and a pile of sharp rocks. That was the only way to get away. I grabbed on, and instantly felt a slice. I lifted up my leg. The crocodile came closer, and I kicked its face. Now it had a reason to be angry.

This pile of rocks were just like my tree. I kept reminding myself that nothing was different. The rocks were completely drenched. Again I could see the scales from the water. I was almost to the top. But, I had no more light. I looked behind me, and right there the animal was jumping from the water. In its throat, I could see a clock. Continually it went off. My leg slipped, and rock fell. I don't know if it was fate or luck, but the rock completely knocked the crocodile down back to the endless ocean.

I wasn't taking any more chances. I kept climbing, and I grabbed onto something for support. My face hit the surface. I spit out some water that was lodged in my throat. My eyelids opened. There was a leg. Slowly I peered up, to see who I was holding onto.

"Why hello Wendy. I had been suspecting you," Peter droned.

"Here," he said throwing a sword at me. "It is time you learned how to fight."

I was still laying down. Using a rock next to me, I pulled my body up. I raised the sword.

"What are you even doing here? I thought you were getting Henry," I rasped.

His sword was at me, but I was able to block it. We both stared at each other.

"He doesn't believe," I whispered. "It is not going to work. Hook told him everything."

I pushed my sword against his. He backed away.

"Maybe not me, but he still believes in you," he hissed.

He came toward me again, I raised the weapon in front of my face.

"Really, what makes you so certain?" I asked.

He cornered me. And Peter laughed, and when he did, all the Devils grinned, because Peter's laugh was a most contagious thing.

"Because you are a believer. You were once the truest before you came here. But then, you heard the cries. You stepped foot on this soil, and knew it was nothing like in your dreams. You found out the truth about magic..."

I swung at him. I kept swinging. He knew how to stop me. He had been fighting for years. My sword was against his neck in the end though.

"You know Peter, it was my biggest regret coming here." I began to regulate my breathing.

He took his chance, and hit my sword out of the way. It was out of my hand. He pointed the sword right at my neck. I walked backwards, and tripped on a rock. I was now on the ground crawling backwards to safety. The edge was right there. He looked so angry. Like something else had taken over his body. Almost as if his heart shrank a size.

He stopped himself. He was listening for something. He lowered his sword, and grabbed my body. His hand went over my mouth, and he was pulling me back. He dragged me until we were behind a huge rock. I kicked at his right hip in an attempt to stop him. I then remembered about his stomach. Peter was trying so hard not to screech with pain.

Footsteps then came. Slowly and steadily it was a one...two pattern. I remembered this sound. I remembered how they walked. Hook was here.

You could hear the clink of his chains. He walked knowing fear would be closely behind those who followed. Hook was the only captain in Neverland. The black water belonged to him. He was one of the few that showed no fear of Peter.

The footsteps were drifting away. Like any other adult, he only saw what was right in front of his eyes. Now the only sound here was the whistles of the wind.

Peter removed his hand from my face. I was still angry at him. I wanted nothing more to get under his skin like he had done to me so many times before.

"Afraid of death?" I sneered at him. "I thought kings had no fear."

There was a joy coming with scooping down to his level. He started to bite his lips. I could see his veins popping out.

"You are no longer one of us," he whispered. I had gone too far. I am not exactly sure what I even did.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I spat.

"You will learn soon enough," he answered. He pulled up his knife, and stabbed right into my left arm. "You are just lucky I want Hook dead more than you right now."

He dropped the knife to the ground, and walked away. He did not look back. My eyes locked on him. I didn't care if he couldn't see me. I knew he could sense that he was not the only threat on this island.

My jacket protected me mostly. The wound wasn't that bad. I was so tired of always being in pain.

I wanted to just fall off the edge of the cliff. It would be so much easier than facing whatever was coming from me. But that would mean losing my pride. I had already lost my innocence. my sanity, and my faith in the world. Pride was all that I was living on.

I stood up, and turned around to see Felix. Bodies were shuffling behind him. Instead of walking back, I came forward. Finally facing something.

"You came sooner than I thought," I greeted. I smiled at them with my teeth. But the look in my eyes were a whole other story.

They started to form their usual circle. Slithering as one.

"Wendy, I think you are forgetting that Peter Pan never fails," Felix lisped.

He was at me. I swung at him. They all wanted their turn to hit. I spun around a circle, hitting every sword away. I did not stop hitting. I focused most of my attention on Felix. He was the real threat here. Peter wanted me dead, and he was going to follow orders like always.

I was not going fast enough. I needed to get out of the circle. It was not safe. In unison the boys swiped their weapons at me. I was already on the ground. I crawled through their legs. Once I got back up, I was again caught in another circle. My back was against the wall. I kept pushing on it acting like it would just become a trap door.

"It is so easy to take the light out of fire," Felix laughed.

I gulped. Behind them, I could see a shadow. It was coming forward. I knew it was not Peter. It was far too large. In the light, I could see their curved knife.

"Yes Felix," I muttered. "But it is also so easy to create a spark."

They all turned around to take a glimpse of what I was surveying. I still could not see his face. But as he got closer it was clearer than ever. A smile formed on my face.

"Who are you?" Felix muttered at the figure.

"Just a pirate," He exclaimed.

I was quite surprised to see the young pirate. Before he looked so lifeless. Something must have snapped. Because he was waiting to see blood just as much as any of the lost boys.

The pirate swung at Felix, destroying the circle of boys. We were all in an unorderly fashion now. We hit what was next to us. Not even knowing who it was. It made me feel so alive. Dodging every danger, being someone's new fear.

I was lost in the moment. I didn't notice the pirate tugging on my jacket.

"We must go!" He ordered.

I was confused. I turned my head to where he was looking. The metal was again clinging. The careful footsteps. Hook had came back.

The pirate took my hand, and we were both running. The caves were so dark. I don't know how he chose what direction to go. A light was starting to form. It was light from a fire.

We suddenly stopped. There was a gun. A man was holding a gun pointed at us. His finger was fidgeting on the trigger.

I let him see all my fear. I wanted him to see an innocent girl. I searched deep into his eyes. They looked so familiar. So much it scared me. His face, his body movement, they were all seen before. The man saw the same familiarity in me.

"Bae?" I breathed.


	14. From The Inside

He lowered the gun.

"Wendy?" He asked back with confusion.

I nodded my head. I ran up to him, and we hugged. He squeezed so hard. My eyes were starting to water a bit. I began to release myself.

"This isn't possible," I muttered.

He seemed to hear what I said.

"I was able to leave. I go by Neal now," He smiled. "I went back home, but I couldn't find you. I grew up.. I had my own son. I even fell in love once."

I backed away from him. "But I saw you… You, you died Bae. I watched you lose all your blood."

"Wendy that never happened. What are you talking about?" he disagreed.

It had to be real. It was real. I wasn't crazy. My back was already against the cave wall. The young pirate grabbed onto my arm.

"Are you okay Wendy?" he whispered in my ear.

I looked deep in his eyes. How was I suppose to describe what had happened? I took a deep breath.

"Bae, you were locked in a cage. I got you out, but then Hook found you. He… well somehow, you got hurt very bad and ended up dying. Your whole stomach seemed to collapse...," I murmured.

He was still confused. But then he stood back. His eyes seemed to glow.

"Wendy," Bae began. "To leave this island, I had to leave part of my soul here. So they wouldn't know I left. So they wouldn't come looking for me."

I looked down to the ground. I closed my eyes and kept telling myself that this wasn't happening.

"But- but it had your same body. Your same feeling. It felt pain. How could that just not affect you in anyway?" I screeched.

"I am sorry Wendy. It was when the land still had magic. There was something different after losing that part of me. It was painful at first. I was not the same boy. I did what I had to…"

"They never forgot about it though?" I reassured. "I mean they still believe that whatever that thing is, is you? Right?"

"I am pretty certain. But Wendy we have to leave. Both you and Henry need to go. It is not safe for you guys here," Baelfire said as he dragged my arm.

"I can't though!" I shouted. I pulled until he let go.

"But Peter wants to take Henry's heart!" He retorted. "I am not going to let that happen to my son-"

"Henry is your son?" I interrupted.

Bae nodded his head. "He is my son, and you are my friend. So we need to go," He responded.

"Like I said before, I can't leave. You need to go take Henry, and leave. Do you know where he is umm-"

"Will, my name is Will," the young pirate said. "The compass you gave him told him to come here. I saw those boys after you, and I tried to help you. Henry must have ran off."

"Well you two go and find him. I am going to find Hook," I barked at them.

"I don't think that is a good idea," Will said as he grabbed my arm. He was trying to protect me. He was a pirate, he knew the most about Hook anyways.

I looked over at both of them. They were scared for me. It was hard for me to watch. I actually had people who cared. I felt my eyes starting to water, but quickly I wiped them.

"It is either me or Henry, and I am choosing Henry. Now I need to do this for myself okay. Now please," I begged.

I was breathing heavily. He didn't want to, but Will let go of me. I started running in case one of them changed their mind. I was just running until I found what I wanted. I was trying my best not to slip on the ground. It was getting harder to breathe. There was so many dead ends. I finally stopped myself. I coughed up some blood.

To the left of me, I could see what seemed to be the hub of the cave. There was a single body. They were waiting. I peered closer. There was a crack in the cave, which revealed a bright light. Under the light, I could see a Hook. I turned around, and started running towards him.

I hit someone after two steps. My body was back on the ground. I opened my eyes to see Henry.  
"Henry," I whispered so Hook wouldn't hear, "Go find your family. They are going to take you back home."

"No," he responded. "I am not leaving you here."

"Why?" I asked. "I lied to you. I tried to trick you. Why-why can't you just hate me? Everything would be so much easier..."

He looked down. His arm was across his chest like he was trying to cradle himself. I rubbed his shoulder.

"Henry, I am not afraid of dying. It is going to be my next adventure. If you really want to help me, you are going to go find your family. I have to go to Hook. I wasn't able to stand up for myself before, but I am definitely not doing that again. This is my last request, okay?"

I didn't wait for him to respond. I picked up my sword, and started to head towards Hook. I made sure I hid in the dark shadows. I hopped down, to the ground where he stood. Slowly he turned around. He gave me a grin.

"Aww Wendy, I am very happy to see you here," Hook sneered.

I lifted up my sword, and walked towards him.

"So whats your purpose. Going to try to kill me Wendy?" He asked.

He acted like I was just a silly old child.

I chuckled. And gave him a smile. "Oh Hook. Whats the use of doing that? It would be so much more fun to know that you live your life old and alone. Sure you may have the satisfaction of winning. But it will only last so long."

He walked towards me. He wiped his hook against my face, and then grabbed my chin.

"Love, who is the one who made it so you would have to die. Because it certainly wasn't me."

"Get your hand off me!" I yelled at him as I hit it away.

"You know who the real enemy is here," Hook murmured. "He is the devil hidden by a mask."

"He isn't the only one," I hissed.

I started to walk away. There was nothing else I needed to say. I felt more blood coming up my throat and didn't want him to know I was in a weak state. I kept my head up high. There was a click, a whoosh of wind, and a scream. I turned my head around, and there was Henry on the ground, inches from me. Hook had a gun aiming again for me. I heard a shot being fired, and I closed my eyes. Nothing came to me. I cracked my right eye open. Hook was now on the ground holding his shoulder. I turned my body to see Baelfire with a gun.

I ran to Henry's body. I grabbed him, and wouldn't let him go. I was not going to accept it. Hook was aiming for me, not him. I was responsible. Henry- he didn't deserve this. I was crying and screaming and felt instantly weak.

"Wendy," Bae ran up to me. "We need to get back to the island. It isn't safe here!"

"I am not leaving him!" I cried.

"We aren't, okay? We are taking him back to the island so we can treat him. We need to go now!" Bae yelled while dragging my body to the boat. Will grabbed Henry, and laid his body in the small boat.

The wound was in his shoulder. It wasn't that bad, but I had no clue to do with a gunshot wound. I didn't know if we were supposed to remove the bullet, or if that would just leave more damage. Henry was losing blood.

"Give me a cloth," I yelled at no one in particular. Will passed me an old rag. It would have to do. I wrapped it around Henry.

"Wendy I can help you," Bae advised.

I looked at my surroundings. The waves were rough, and the sky was dark with rain clouds.

"No we are going to need both you and Will to control the boat. I can handle Henry on my own."

The land looked so far away. I gulped. I had a huge headache. The rag was getting soaked with water. Our boat was not going to survive with these conditions.

"He must be bloody hell angry," Bae mumbled.

"What do you mean?" I yelled as I looked back at him.

"Pan. His emotions control the weather. He is the god of this place."

"More like the devil of this hell," Will said under his breath loud enough for me to hear.

I heard coughing, and looked down to Henry again. There was water in his lungs. His eyes slowly started to open. He instantly grabbed at his shoulder. Henry was screeching.

"You are going to be okay," I reassured. "Everything will work out."

I was rubbing his face. I had to be his mother since she wasn't here for him.

"Wendy," Henry mumbled. "Can-can you finish the.. the story of Cinderella? You weren't able to last time?"

I was quite confused. He probably just didn't want to think of the pain or what was actually happening. Worse, think of which one of us was going to leave Neverland for good.

"Sure. The Prince found the glass slipper, and Henry they lived happily ever aft-"

I cut myself off. Henry was closing his eyes. I kept shaking him.

"Henry stay awake," I growled with frustration.

His eyes opened, but he was struggling.

"This isn't bad, this isn't bad at all okay. You will be okay. You know that right Henry?" I whimpered.

He nodded. I gave him a hug. The water kept coming into the boat. I looked to see where we were. Just a bit closer to land than last time I checked. It was getting harder to keep my own eyes open. I was so out of it. I don't know if I was just exhausted, or if there was something far worse.

My head was screaming at me. I couldn't do anything. It hurt so bad. I have gotten migraines before, but this was more torture.

"Wendy, Wendy!" Bae yelled.

I started to let out a scream, and layed down on the ground. It was like my brain was trying to leave my head. I couldn't catch my breath. I again spit out blood.

Will got up, and started to pat my back.

"Wendy, we are almost there. You and Henry will both be okay. Wendy!" Will kept screaming at me. I couldn't contour up the strength to respond. I closed my eyes.

Someone was shaking me.

"Wendy we made it to the island," Bae said.

He turned to go help Henry along with Will. I wanted to do something, but I couldn't, I couldn't even stand up. There was blood on nearly every inch of me. I crawled so I would be further from the water. I didn't know what was happening to me. I tried to yell out for Bae, but my voice kept cracking and I wasn't loud enough. I began to cry again. My body felt dead. Something was killing me from the inside. All my eyes could see was endless black. I was in for the longest sleep I ever had.


	15. Flashback

I had a dream. Quite a long dream. It was more of an unconscious memory. The shadow had taken Bae. I just sat at the window hoping that it he would come back. I knew the chances were slim to none of that actually happening. The door creaked. I quickly turned my head to the right. My parents stomped in, and I quickly ran away from the window.

"Wendy!" George yelled as he stormed to my window. "Where is all this noise coming from, and why is the window wide open?"

He shut the window, and locked it.

"Wendy where is Baelfire?" My mother asked with concern.

We both stared at each other. She would never believe me. I was trying to create words, but all that came out was my breath.

She seemed to get distracted by John and Michael.

"Are you two okay?" she said in a maternal voice holding her arms out for a hug.

The boys just stood there. They were trembling with fear.

"Give mother a hug boys," I tried to say calmly.

They stood still. My smile to them turned into a frown. I closed my eyes and took a long breath.

My parents were both staring at me. Waiting for answers that I didn't want to give them.

I stood up straight with my head held high. "A shadow came and-"

"A shadow," George interrupted. "What do you mean a shadow?"

"Just let her finish dear," my mother commented as she embraced my father. "Now, what about a shadow?"

"The shadow, it came and took Bae away. They flew away, and I don't know how to get them back," I admitted with my voice cracking.

"They flew away," George hesitated. "A shadow just came to the window and took them away. I sthat true Wendy?"

"Yes," I muttered. I backed my body away. I knew when he started asking questions with this tone, he was very angry.

"George," my mother confided. "Can you try to calm down?"

"Calm down!" he started to yell. "You are telling me to calm down, when a boy who was our responsibility, just disappeared out of thin air. When our sons are afraid of their own shadows!"

She embraced his face. She had a way of knowing a simple touch can bring comfort. "Please, its been a long night for all of us."

Mother turned to me. "Wendy," she went on, "I am going to give you another chance to tell us the truth."

"I am telling the truth though," I declared. "I wouldn't lie about something this serious."  
My father started to storm out of the room.

"Father!" I yelled after him.

My mom held up her gown, ready to leave yourself.

"Mother I-"

"You have done enough damage," she snapped in a way that was still lady like.

It was just me and the boys now. I sat back at the window ledge. I looked up to the second star of a right, awaiting the shadow to come back with Bae. I fell asleep right there, with tears in my eyes.

The next dream I had was taken place a few weeks after the incident. My parents were both ignoring me. George and Michael had not uttered a word. My mother finally decided to take them to the doctor. It was just me and George in the house.

I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I answered as I cleaned off my dress.

It was none other than my father.

"You know where your mother and the boys went don't you," he tried to say calmly.

I nodded.

He sat down on my breath. I thought I smelled something. It was horrid. I decided just to ignore it.

"Wendy can you please just tell me what happened," he stressed. I was happy he was trying not to be angry.

"I am sorry but I already told you what I know. The shadow took Bae away to Neverland, and the boys are scared it will come back for them.."

"These things need to stop," He demanded. "They are just stories nothing more."

"Of course you would say that," I said under my breath. I didn't think he would hear me.

"What is that supposed to mean," George retorted as he stood up from my bed.

"You don't believe," I began. "You and mother are adults. You can only see what is right in front of you. You do not own a sense of imagination."  
"That is the real world. You need to grow up!" He shouted.

He headed for the door, and turned the knob.

"I hope you are responsible for whatever is wrong with you brothers," He lisped as he shut the door.

The next morning I woke up to yelling outside my room. I tiptoed over to the door. George and Michael hadn't came home yet. I put my right ear next to it, making sure my breathing wasn't too loud.

"Where are the boys," George harassed my mother. "What happened at the doctor."

"The doctor he.. he recommended them to a mental facility. I agreed with him-"

"You agreed?" He asked in an angry tone.

"It is one of the best in London," Mother informed. "It is not as bad as you think."

"This new will get to the neighbors, to my bosses. George, the man who sent his kids to a loony bin," He sneered.

"It is no loony bin," she disagreed. "It is a calm environment where they can get counseling, and professionally sort out whatever fears they have."

"Why can't we just have Wendy tell us. It will save far more time and money than this."

"I talked to the doctor about Wendy too. She is probably just as traumatized as the boys. He said that she may be making up this bizarre story, so she wouldn't have to face the reality of the situation."

"Mary," father expressed, "At least she isn't mumbling in another language. What so bad could have happened. We are far above the streets, and all our door are locked. What could've bloody hell happened with just a window?"

"Both of Baelfire's parents died. That is a lot for a child to handle. He could have seen the long drop.." she started to drone off.

"So he jumped?" George asked.

"It is the only possible explanation I can think of. Maybe Wendy from the fall made up that he was instead flying. She probably doesn't even know what suicide is, or why he would want to do it."

"If that did happen though," he rumbled, "How come the police have not found a body. We are in London, a body would be so clearly visible-"

"At least I am trying George! All you do is yell at us. Looking for answers we just don't know. I am doing what is the best for our children. Maybe Wendy should also go see the doctor.."

"No!" he shouted. "I am not letting you send another one of our children away! I am… I should go. I am going to go out with my co-workers. I need to be on their good side before they find out the news."

I heard footsteps.

"There is going to be drinking isn't there?" she asked. I heard more footsteps. "I can smell it. I found the flask in your coat. You stopped yourself before. Do you really want to start again after you worked so hard?"

I heard stomping, and there was no more talking.

Time went on. George was barely home anymore. Even when he was, he never spoke to me or mother. George and Michael were still gone. I guess it was better to be there, than home.

I don't know if it was too quiet in the house or if she needed more help around the house, but Aunt Millicent had come to stay with us.

She made several attempts to make me more "lady like". She tried to teach me manners, and even that I would soon need to start socializing so I could find a husband. I didn't like her. I told her that I was going to write a three part novel of my adventures, and she completely tore the idea down.

I was polishing the silverware for dinner, and there was a bang on the door.

"Go to your room Wendy," Aunt Millicent demanded.

"Auntie I-"

"Now," she interrupted me.

I set down the utensils, and headed up to my room I was nearly up the stairs, when I heard yelling. I tried to ignore it and finished my way there.

I wasn't going to go through the torture of listening. I climbed under my sheets, and tried to cradle myself. It wasn't enough though because George wanted the whole neighborhood to hear what he had to say.

"Where is Mary!" he screamed.

Aunt Millicent must have responded, but I could not hear her. I heard stomping on the footsteps. I wrapped my blankets tighter.

"George stop what are you doing!" Millicent screamed back at him.

"George! George! George!" she kept yelling.

That yelling at some point turned into a scream, and there was a loud bang. I was stunned for a second. I snapped myself out of it, and ran to my door to go lock it. There were more far louder footsteps coming. I ran to the little room where we hid Bae. I closed the door tightly behind me, and stayed silent..

This wasn't the first time it happened. Father came home drunk before. He yelled, screamed, and broke some things until he left again. He always had quite a temper. But the thing is when you are so used to something, you don't notice when it gets worse.

I closed my eyes and held my ears. My head kept shaking.

It was silent for a while. I stopped pulling back on the knob. Slowly I pushed the door open. I made sure it wouldn't creek It was opened a crack. No one grabbed the other side. I kept pushing until it was nearly an inch.  
The door flew open from the other side. My father was on the other side. He took my body, and pushed me down to the ground.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked holding up a piece of paper.

I shook my head no, and used my elbows to move farther away.

"These, right here are divorce papers. Why- why Wendy why would she do this to me?"

"I don't know," I whispered. I was having trouble breathing. My stomach was in knots.

"Really? Everything, every last thing that happened to this family is your fault!" He shouted.

He grabbed the collar of my dress. to pull me up to his eye level.

"How does it feel to know you ruined this family, hmm!" he retorted.

His breath smelt so foul. He looked like a slob. I didn't know this man. I didn't. I couldn't have.

"I did nothing," I spat.

I was shocked that I let the words out. I waited for him to do something.

"Nothing at all," I mouthed with tears blurring my vision.

He took his hand, and slapped my left cheek. It burned. I just left my head there. I closed my eyes. I didn't understand.

The door again opened, and Aunt Millicent was on the other side.

"George! George! Get off of her!" She pulled at his shoulder, but he jerked it back forward.

"Leave this house know before I call the police," she hollered ever so unlady like.

He got up, and pulled a flask out of his jacket. Aunt Millicent followed him. I sat my body up. After a minute of so, I heard the front door close.

Aunt Millicent was quickly back to my side with an ice pack.

"Ssshhh child everything will be okay," she said trying to calm both me and herself.

"Why," I asked. "Why would he want to do that?" I was trying to be strong, but I couldn't I kept biting down on my lip until it started bleeding.  
"Before you were born," she began. "Your father used to have this same problem. Your old enough to know what an alcoholic is aren't you?"

I nodded my head.

"Your father and mother were having troubles making end meet. Their wedding was also coming up which would take all the money they worked for. It started out little. A drink with dinner. Maybe two. But when he had a bad day, he thought the only way to get over it was to completely forget. Alcohol did that for him. He just wanted to feel numb. He didn't want to feel like a failure."

She removed the ice, and checked my cheek again. Then put back on the same spot and continued speaking.

"Your mother was just as stressed at him. They would yell, and he would blame her. He ruined her completely psychologically before physically. Sadly we only noticed when she would have a black eye and said that she fell on the curb. I knew she was lying. I told her she had to leave him. She said no. She said it was her responsibility to get him better. I don't know why but your mother took blame for everything."

"When did he stop?" I murmured.

"I found every bottle of rum, and disposed of it. I told your father that they were going to fire him if he kept doing this. The only way he could be a "man" again was to stop drinking. I stayed at the house and watched him. I made sure he never took another sip of alcohol. I made sure he never laid a hand on your mother. Soon enough I wasn't needed anymore…"

She got up, and wiped off the dirt off her dress. She inhaled a deep breath.

"Why aren't we actually calling the police." I questioned.

She took her clothes, and put them on her hands. "it is a man's word against a woman's," she responded. Her clothes were now completely gone. "I have to go."

"Go," I repeated. "You can't leave me here."

"Wendy, I need to go find your mother. George is certainly going to go looking for her. She is the one he is really angry at."

"I will go-"

"No," she interrupted. "You are going to stay here and pack up all your things. Get all the money you can find lying around. Once we come back, we are going to go stay at my house."

"You have your own things at your house. What if he comes back?" I retorted.

"Soon you'll realize how much we need that money. You don't want everything your mother worked for to go down the drain. Do you?"

I shook my head. She came closer to me.

"Lock all the doors. Only answer if you can hear my voice. If your father does come there is a ladder against the window in the den. Climb down it and keep going until you are somewhere safe.." Aunt Millicent whispered to me.

She nodded her head, and left the house. That was the last time I saw her. I quickly started to pack.

Nearly an hour later I heard a knocking at the door. I stopped what I was doing. I went to go see if I could hear Aunt Millicent's voice. There was just knocking. I just stared at the door. The lock started to fidget. I backed away, and ended hitting the tea table.

"Owe," I mouthed.

I turned around to see an open door with my father in the doorway.

"Get away!" I screamed as I ran for the window.

He grabbed my stomach area and pulled me back.

"I can't let you do that," he whispered with his mouth on my ear. I kept hitting at him.

"You know you look so much like your mother. So beautiful. It would so much pain me to see you go," he lisped.

It took me a second to understand the reality of the situation. He started to bite on my ear.

That was enough of it. I took my foot and kicked it back until I hit his groins. He let go of me, and I unlocked the window. It wasn't budging. I looked back to see him again coming. I pushed up on the window with all my might. The London winds hit my face, and I put my legs one at a time on the seal. The ladder was there like she said. I climbed down nearly slipping on my dress a few times.

I ran. I kept running even though any minute my body would collapse on top of itself.

"Wendy! Bloody hell come back here!",George fumed as he chased after me.

My vision started to go black. Everything was dissolving around me. Was I again opened my eyes, I was no longer in London. The nightmare that seemed to never end was over. Above me was a wood ceiling.

As I lowered my head, I saw him. Peter was alive, and so was I. He started to turn my way and I closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep. I was not ready to face whatever the world had in store for me today.


	16. To a New Beginning

I kept my eyes closed until I knew he was gone. I was trying to formulate in my head what was going on. I was having trouble remembering really anything. A part of me was still stuck in my dream. Why had I been asleep for so long?

Once I knew I was alone, I quietly got out of bed. I looked down at my clothes, and they were all covered in dry blood. I was checking my body to see where it had came from. There was an awful stench accumulating everywhere around me. I grabbed for my nose, and felt something hot and wet. Slowly I lowered my hand to eye level. There was blood all over it.

Blood has always been my biggest fear. It made me cringe. Once you start bleeding, you may never be able to stop. Blood was a symbol for death. More like murder.

I had to get clean. Wipe away whatever happened to me. There was a dress on the chair next to my bed. Like someone knew I was going to need it.

I didn't want to over think it. I grabbed the dress, and headed over to the river so I could bathe. There was no one at camp when I climbed down the tree house ladder. At least no chance of anyone watching me. The lost boys may act like animals, but they were still boys.

Once there, I took off my jacket. I couldn't wait until I got into the water. My whole body felt sore. I closed my eyes, and popped my neck back. I was almost down with my rotation when I opened my eyes. My whole body flinched. I grabbed my jacket and put it back on. There was a barely visible lump far down the river. It was so dark here that I almost missed it. I picked up my dress, and decided to take a closer inspection.

While walking I kept rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I was still in the same state I was when I first woke up. Every couple of steps, I tripped over my feet. It was so intrusive, so I kept walking. Upon closer inspection, I could tell whatever the thing was, was covered with a blanket.

My pupils dilated. I wanted to run back to the treehouse. Whatever I was going to find, was not going to be pretty. I kept checking behind me to see that no one was there. I took a hold of the blanket. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled. Unhurriedly, I opened my eyes back up.

I fell backwards, and tried to crawl away as quickly as I could. I started to hyperventilate. It was all coming back. Like a bolder it had hit me.

"Nooo!" I whimpered. I pulled up the dirt, and threw it back down to the ground. My body was tingling. I kept scratching so the pain would be more physical than mental.

I put my head down. I was gritting my teeth. Everything was closing in on me. I couldn't breath. Couldn't think. Well about anything other than the pain I was in. I hid my head in my lap.

"I am so sorry Henry," I whispered to myself.

For hours I just stared at him. Hoping he would take a breath of life. I had no tears left. I was completely silent. Time stopped. I couldn't help but to keep looking. It hurt. Based on his condition, the incident didn't happen too long ago.

It seemed like his body was moved here. Different objects were scattered around. Bandages, weapons. I peered my head towards the right and saw a shiny flask.

I leveled myself up, and grabbed it. I took a whiff of it. The smell was overwhelming. It was nearly filled to the rim. I bit down on my lip, and gulped it down. It was horrible. My body didn't want it. I felt like I was going to throw up. I kept chugging on it, until it was accepted.

"What are you doing," Peter said as he came out from the darkness. He came in like a ghost. Just waiting to taunt you.

I lowered the flask and wiped my mouth. I had nothing to say to him.

"We use that for wounds, not for drinking," he sighed.

"But it is a drink," I retorted. He walked closer to me.

"Let me have a sip then," he demanded with his hand waiting. I passed him it to him as he took a spot next to me.

Without any hesitation he drinked it. It most certainly wasn't his first time doing that. He put it back down.

"I thought you wouldn't-"

"Shut up," I interrupted him. "Sit here if you must, but keep your mouth closed."

"You're angry," he commented.

I kept staring at the water in front of me. I wouldn't give him the pleasure of eye contact. "I have a right to be. This is not what should have happened…"

"And you blame me for that?" Peter asked. I could sense his eyes on me.

I stood myself up. I was not going to to sit here and listen as I again get yelled at. I started my way back to the dense trees.

"So you are just going to walk away," he called at back at me.

I stopped my body, and turned back to him.

"I didn't want this, okay!" I announced. "You knew that." I was grabbing at my hair continuously. I hated being the center of attention in any situation.

"It doesn't matter what you want. The boy had a bloody bullet in his arm. He was watching you die, begging me to stop it. He knew what was the only way." Peter stressed. He was breathing fast. His right eye was covered in red.

"So you turned out to be the hero? Hmm," I rumbled. "Then where is Will, where is Neal? They would not have left Henry at their own free will. I remember them being in the boat with me."

We both stood there. Biting our tongues.

I put my head up high. "I remember everything now. You saying that I was no longer one of you people. Making your boys doing your own dirty work... I was puking up blood. You wanted me dead. Why is there no knife at my throat right now?"

He started to chuckle. His left eyebrow raised. "You got me what I wanted," he grinned.

I was clenching my fists. "You are sick!" I growled. I pushed him. "So fucking sick!"

He grabbed my wrists and pushed me back.

"But you accepted my game," he whispered. He was then gone out of thin air.

I woke up with my body leaned against a tree. Lazily I opened up my eyes. There was a lady there. She was blond. He arms were holding Henry. She peered up knowing that I was conscious.

"He is dead you know," I whimpered to her. "What do you want?"

She stood up, and wiped the dirt from her hands. "He is my son," she muttered. "I am not leaving him here. Not with Pan."

Her voice was very assertive. I could tell she was strong. Or at least trying to be. I pushed myself upwards.

"What is your name," I asked.

She seemed busy at what she was doing. As if no one could stop her.

"Emma," she responded. She was still more focused on Henry.

"Henry is-was a good boy." I spoke. "You should be a proud mother."

I could have done something. Scream or shout. But this was the one last thing I could do for Henry. Let his family have the body instead of leaving his rotting corpse here.

Emma smiled at me. Her eyes looked a bit watery. "He was, he definitely was…"

She grabbed his body, and I closed my eyes. I had a bit more peace. I didn't know how far she would make it with him. But that wasn't my concern. I went back to sleep.

"Where is Henry!" Peter yelled at me.

I was still waking up. I stretched my body and yawned.

"Wendy!" He yelled.

The boys were with him. They were all staring at me. I opened my eyes big and wide.

"Split up and go look for him. I have some questions for our Wendy here," Peter sneered.

Felix was struggling to leave. I eyed him. He took his torch and dug it into the ground. He turned around and did as he was told.

I put more of my attention on what was happening.

"Why is this so important to you. He is dead. Why care about the body?" I asked.

"Just answer my question," he said with a knife against my throat.

I casually leaned my head on my right shoulder. "Emma took him," I sneered.

"And you let her?," he whispered to me.

I inched my body closer to him. "I bloody hell did," I whispered back.

I thought he was just going to put the knife in my throat. He stood up, grunted, and stabbed the knife into the tree instead. It was completely lodged in there. He was trying to catch his breath.

He was mumbling something. I stood up finally.

"What is the matter? He is dead!" I stated.

"Dammit Wendy! You just don't understand." It was the first time he really showed his emotions. First time cursing. Well with me around.

I talked back to him. "You can say what you want, but his family deserved him back. We don't own him, we never owned him."

I didn't understand why he was so angry. I was getting frustrated. He was not cooling down. With one pull his knife was out of the tree trunk.

"Why is this so important?!" I shouted. I was trying to make him give me eye contact.

"The boy died from losing his heart," he lisped. "We aren't safe." He was shaking his head,

He started to walk off.

"Where are you going?" I yelled to him. I started forward, but then stopped myself.

He turned around. "Just stay here so you won't cause any more damage," he spoke.

I didn't like it when he tried to order me around. I was going to give him the level of respect he gave me. "What are so afraid of anyways, death?"

He came back towards me.

"I don't care about dying," he argued.

I bit my tongue. "You clearly do."

"What makes you so certain," he said coming closer to me.

"You would do anything to survive. I have only heard only stories though. I want to hear it come from you," I started to have trouble getting air. "Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Plenty," he answered.

I knew he wasn't lying. He said it like it was something he was proud of.

"Do you even have a conscience?" I asked.

"Now that would just get in the way of things," he muttered.

He again walked away.

I was again scratching myself.

"You are a coward. Not anything more! You are just a scared more than anything."

I ran after him, and pushed his body against a tree.

"Why are you afraid?!" I yelled at him.

"I am not afraid," he answered.

I pushed his body again.

I kept on screaming. "You are so afraid of death. That is why you do all this!"

"No I am not," he said with more emotion in his voice.

I let go of him. I kept backing away until my body hit a tree. I was starting to cry.

"What is it then!" I screamed louder at him than I have ever before. There were tears coming down on my face. "What is it?!"

"I don't want to lose you." He answered nearly cutting my voice off.

I was so confused. I was shaking my head back and forth. I then looked back up to him. He came closer to me, and grabbed my face. He kissed me. He kept on kissing me very hardly. Not in a painful way though. He was waiting for this. He kept pushing my body back until I again hit a tree.

He never lied to me. No matter how bad the truth was. He meant what he said. I kissed him back. I wanted to be never let go of.

After some more time went by, he slowly backed his face away from me. We were still only inches away. Peacefully, I rested my head on his shoulder.

For the first time, I didn't worry about what was going to happen tomorrow. I didn't go out of my way to search for answers. I moved my head a bit so I could whisper close to his ear.

"To live will be an awfully big adventure."


	17. The Hanging Tree

My head rested there for who knows how long. But we were disturbed. There was a shaking in the trees. Peter quickly backed away from me. I took a deep breath.

"We can't find him anywhere," Felix announced as he sat down on a rock in front of us. He kept spinning his torch back and forth. I stared at him with interest.

All the other lost boys appeared. I really needed to work on my own entrance. They still made me intimidated even though I knew they wouldn't hurt me.

"They have to be somewhere," Peter hissed as he drew up his sword. I never noticed how powerful his walk was before either.

"Well they need to find us in order for their plan to work. Why don't we just wait it out." I noticed a lost boy said, who I didn't know the name of. Come to think of it, I didn't know about half of these boys names. But they all knew mine.

"Well," I started to speak. I was struggling. They were all staring at me. Peter and me may have came to terms, but the others were still angry. "They expect us to be rash and fight to get Henry back. We still have the advantage-"

"We?" Felix questioned. "When have you become interested in helping us? Why should we listen to you?"

I turned my head to the right. "Considering that the heart also keeps me alive, and that all of you tried to kill me, I think that should be enough motivation," I continued. "And I say, we hide from them."

Everything fell silent. They were all so used to blood and guts and fighting. I cleared my throat. "I know you all aren't used to that, but it is unsuspected. The winner is always most familiar with the land."

No one spoke again. We all just twiddle our fingers.

"Henry will rot soon anyways. Lets do it," Peter said standing in the middle. "Come on boys!"

They all started to run. I stuck behind them. I was still guarded.

Felix seemed to be waiting behind for me.

"So how is the leg?" He asked motioning towards me.

I didn't know what game he was trying to play with me. He was glaring at me.

"Good. Better than usual actually. How's your face?" I retorted.

There was always a part of me who wanted to know what had happened. It looked like some object just scraped across his face. Dragging all his blood and skin.

"Just like any other day," he finally spoke.

I then ran to catch up with the other boys. Felix had a story like anyone else here. But it seemed far more interesting than any I have ever told.

We made camp in it seemed in the dead center of the island. Everything was darker here. Moonlight never found its way.

The boys were all asleep. I was having a hard time though. All the noises around us were too loud. There was a continuous buzzing in my ear. I sat straight up and looked around. There was no clear disturbance. I layed back down, and turned to my right side.

"Just go to sleep", I told myself silently.

Something new was filling my ears. They were voices. No one was awake though. They got louder and louder. They were overlaying screams and cries. I plugged my ears, but it was like they were coming from the inside of me.

The air was too thick were I was. I got up, and spaced myself from the others. The screaming was getting louder. My body and mind weren't working together. The screams took me where they needed me to be.

I yanked at my hair. I couldn't think. All the voices contained their own personal pain. It hurt so badly. I tried to cry to over power them.

"Please, please stop!" I begged. "Stop it!" I screamed.

It was no use. They kept on pestering me.

"God dammit," I screeched.

The screams stopped. Just out of thin air, they were gone. I moved my hand away from my ears, and opened my eyes.

To the east of my view there was a tree. The tree has a single rope with a knot at the end. One of the lost boys had his hand on it.

Cautiously, I stood up. I walked towards him. My eyes never left his. Slowly he removed his hand from the tree. The screaming started all over again. It far worse than before. I slammed my left hand against the tree, and all the noises were gone again.

"Why, why does it do that?" I asked the boy who I could now tell was Nibs.

"It makes our presence known," he droned on. "You don't even know what this is, do you?"

I shook my head. "Well it looks like a hanging-"

"Hanging Tree?" he interrupted.

I nodded my head.

"Right you are Wendy. The screams are from the ghosts whose souls are left here," he started to have a devilish giggle.

I thought he was trying to scare me, or something like that. Seemed like something lost boys had a desire to do. I kept glaring at him.

"You think I am messing with you?" Nibs started. "We can all hear the screams, we get over it. We learn to cope with it."

"But they are just children," I whispered.

"Aren't we all? No ordinary children though, these are lost boys. Fellow lost boys…"

"That makes no difference," I retorted.

"Its capital punishment," Nibs suggested. "The same thing like in your world. We haven't used this in a while though. You see, some of the boys were trying to rebel. Either by helping Hook, or by trying to escape the island. Peter needed to show them that he still had the power…"

I was about to release my hand, but then I realized that would just make things worse for me. The more I learned about this island, the bigger urge I had to leave.

"NIbs," I mentioned.

"Yeah."

"Are ever afraid. Afraid to be a lost boy?" I asked. For a split second he frowned. But then a grin was on his face.

"You are only punished if you cheat. You get what you deserve. That is a small price to pay for being young forever. You get to fight and fly. Playing games all day with no adults." He paused himself. "There is a saying in Neverland that, every time you breath, a grown-up dies."

"Adults aren't that bad," I remarked.

He seemed so offended to that. He removed his hand from the tree.

"This is why you don't belong here," he sneered. "That kind of talk is what gets people in trouble. If people could just follow the damn rules, nothing bad would ever happen. Felix had to learn that the hard-"

"Does that have to do with the scar on his face?" I was curious. Too curious.

"You think it only goes along his face?" He again giggled, and then ran back to camp.

That was the day I realized how much these boys needed to grow up. They knew nothing of fairness, nothing of love. I was stuck in that position. I knew I couldn't hold onto the tree for that much longer.

I wanted to calm them down. My mother was so good at these things. A simple touch from her could cure all. But I couldn't touch them. So, I softly sang a lullaby my mother always sang to me, Michael, and John:

Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee,  
All through the night  
Guardian angels God will send thee,  
All through the night  
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,  
Hill and dale in slumber sleeping  
I my loved ones' watch am keeping,  
All through the night

Angels watching, e'er around thee,  
All through the night  
Midnight slumber close surround thee,  
All through the night  
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,  
Hill and dale in slumber sleeping  
I my loved ones' watch am keeping,  
All through the night

I removed my hand from the tree ever so slowly. They did not cry, there was no screaming. I was relieved. They had found peace, only if for a night. A smile crept across my face. I haven't smiled like this in a while.

"Pretty song," a voice said.

Instead of moving my whole body, I just turned my head. A light was there. Brighter than Neverland was used to.

"Tinkerbell," I mouthed.

She grabbed my hand, and away we went.

"Tink, I can't leave," I yelled at her.

She didn't respond, she just kept dragging me along we were coming to the end of the island.

"Slow down," I screamed.

5 feet. 4 feet. 3, 2, and 1. I thought we were going to fall to our deaths. But instead we soared in the skies. It was nothing like with the shadow. I was actually flying too. It gave the same feeling that swimming did. Looking down I became a little afraid, but the feeling quickly subsided. The only thing below us was water.

"Where are we going," I tried to say louder than the winds.

"You will tell soon enough," she responded as she stared back at me. Our hands were still interlaced.

We started our descend. I looked down at where we were to land. I nearly let go of her hand. We were coming closer to the Jolly Roger.

"No!" I yelled.

I tried to break free of Tinkerbell. The long fall would be better than my fate.

"Don't worry Wendy," she interjected. "Don't be afraid."

Her grip was now tighter. My breathing pattern quickened.

"I don't want to go!" I cried. "Please, please just take me back to the island."

I was now begging. She was a fairy. She had a large heart. Sympathy would work on her. Ironically, she chose to ignore me. Her nails were digging into my skin as we entered aboard the Jolly Roger.

"So you found her," Hook announced motioning to Tink. He grabbed ahold of my body. I was struggling to break free.

"Love we can either do this the easy way,or the hard way." I kept fighting against him. "I guess you choose the hard way," he continued.

His hook was on my neck, and we were moving to the under decks. We entered a room which seemed to be captain's quarters.

Two of his pirates were close behind us. There was a single chair delicately placed in the center of the room.

He tried to push my body so I would sit down. I hated the way he touched me. Like he knew he had all the power. That I would respect his power. Or, further consequences would be in the near future.

The pirates took two belts, and tied my wrists to the arms of the wooden chair. They tightened it so much that it pained me. I couldn't even move a little.

Hook signaled them to leave, and they did as told. Moments later I heard the slam of a door.

"Wendy, I think you are clearly smart enough to know what I want," he started to speak.

I remained silent. Showed no fear. He didn't deserve that.

"Not talking hmm? Darling I do not wish to hurt you-"

"Then why did you try to shoot me?" I cut him off. I needed my own answers just as much as he needed mine.

"I wanted the boy to be safe…" he droned off.

"And you ended up hurting him in the process. Oh the irony, " I sneered. Now I showed him my own grin. Fangs and all.

"I am a pirate. Of course I am not going to be a bloody hell saint. Wendy my point is, Henry's condition can be changed. Well, with your help."

My voice grew louder. "And how so?"

"Henry did not die from his bullet wound. He died from losing his heart. But with his heart back…."

"He will be alive," I finished.

Hook nodded. "We have Henry under a spell. So he won't get any worse. So he can live a normal life if he gets back his heart... it only lasts for 3 days."

"And where do I come into this?"

"Well," he answered me, "You and Pan have a close bond, or relationship, or whatever you want to call it with him."

I nodded my head to say I was still listening.

"I just trick him?" I asked.

"Just bring him to us, and we will do the rest," he informed.

He was circling my chair. I looked back on the belts around my hands.

"You don't deserve my help." I kept shaking my head. "You have brought me enough pain already. I.. I won't do it…"

"I thought you were going to say something of the sorts love. Thats why I have created a deal." He bent down onto his knees so we were on eye level with each other. "You give me Pan, and I make it so you are able to leave the island."  
"You-you can't do that. The cure-"

"You think you are the only person who has been in that position?" he interrupted. "I know a man who has a cure."

"Thats all I get? That you know a guy," I hesitated.

"The guy, this guy, is the dark one. He has an endless amount of power and magic. But you don't care about that. You would care that this man is Bae's father."

My heart skipped a beat.

"Bae said he was dead though," I whimpered.

"Easier to say than his own father abandoned him." Hook laughed. "His father owes him so much. He would do anything to get his son to forgive him. And that means saving one of his closest friends. Bae may have grown up, but he never forgot about you."

"Where is he though?" I asked. "Bae, well I guess now Neal. And where is Will?"

"I am sorry love. I can't answer that…" he took a long pause. "But I am more than certain that Pan can."

I closed my eyes and bit down on my lip. I wanted to just believe Hook was lying. Not listen to him. But it wasn't that easy. Peter knew how much they meant to me. There was always an endless amount of cages on the island.

"The choice is yours," Hook proclaimed. "Just remember 3 days. In that amount of time you could be off this island, and back to your so beloved home of London."

"I still don't believe you will let me leave here," I whispered.

"I am not working alone to get Henry safe. There are people who care about you. They will want you to leave. If you help the boy that is. They need to know that you are one of the good guys." He started to undo the belts on my wrists. It felt so good to have them again free. "Tinkerbell will fly you back to the land. You should be able to find your way from there."

We both left the quarters, and were now back to the starboard. Tinkerbell smiled awaiting me there. She held out her hand, and I grabbed it. We were off again.

Once we were back on the island, Tinkerbell left immediately. Not with any goodbyes. I made up my mind not to think about it. I turned my body counter clockwise so I could make my way back to the camp.

Felix was there facing me.

"I saw Tinkerbell," he brought forth. "Where did you go?"

I tried to walk past him. To just run away. But he grabbed my right arm in the process.

"You can't ignore me. Now again, where were you?"

I stayed quiet and cringed. My anxiety was coming. I hated this.  
"You don't want to tell me," Felix claimed. "She took you to the ship, didn't she?"

He grip on me was tighter. It hurt badly. The boy was very strong. I closed my eyes tightly to keep away the tears. I nodded my head.

"I didn't want to go," I whined to him. "Tinkerbell took my hand and-"

"What do you mean Tinkerbell?!" he was now shouting at me. "Pan killed her."

I was shaking. Felix could kill me without a second thought.

He was whispering something which I couldn't hear. His voice became louder and now every sound he made was audible.

"You saved her. You sewed her up just like you did with Pan," he pointed out to me.

"She didn't deserve what she got! She did nothing wrong Felix!"

"You deserve so much more than what you have gotten," he growled at me like an animal. "If me or any of the other lost boys have did half the things you did…"

I kept my eyes on the ground. Every word he said to me, was a wound opening back up. The long silence made it known that he was choosing his next words wisely.

"I saw you two together. You and Pan." Felix said rather tongue tied. "Do you actually think it meant something?"

I kept my silence. I wanted to shout, yell, and scream, but I kept it together. For once I did. I had no other choice. His nails started to dig deep down into me.

"Pan cares for no one. Those words he said were all lies. Quite a coincidence he chose to show his liking to you when his fate rests in your hands.."

The thought of Felix watching, and probably laughing at that moment had hurt me most of all. I hated being tricked with a passion. I didn't want to believe him, but that would just be ignorant.

"Pan knows you still care about Henry. That Hook would offer you something too good to refuse. He will keep going on with this game until he knows Henry has no chance of taking another breath."

"Then what happens," I finally spoke.

My eyes finally found his. He grinned at me.

I honestly expected an answer. But Felix instead pulled up the sleeve on my jacket. I could now see the damage his grip did. He moved his torch closer to me. I searched his eyes for some type of mercy. He put the torch against my arm.

"Stop it," I cried.

It hurt like hell. I could feel my skin breaking away. The heat filling my whole body along with the smoke coming into my lungs.

I was screaming but yet no one was coming for me. I took my left leg, and kicked back on his knee. I was now free of his grip. I backed away from him with my heart pumping.

"So your leg did get better." I grabbed ahold of where I was burnt. He spoke again. "This conversation never happened."

He walked away from me. Not once turning back to me. I really wasn't one of them.


	18. In His Absence

My fear turned into anger. I finally had the courage to remove my hand from my burnt area.

It looked like a huge rash. Red scabs were all jumbled together. There was some patches of pink since a whole layer was removed. The only good thing about it was that there was no black. Some very dark shades of red, but no black.

The pain felt like hell. I kept reliving the moment. Again and again in my mind I saw the look in Felix's eyes.

My blood was boiling. I couldn't handle it any longer.

I got my body up, and began to stomp back to camp. I made sure every twig cracked. I slapped every branch blocking my path. I kicked any rock far out of view. I once again saw the hanging tree, and I knew I was close.

Something was stopping me. The cries were still gone, but I felt something had to be done. I turned my body back to the old, rotting tree.

I pulled the rope until it fell off the tree. With all my might I threw it over the rocky edge of the island. I knew they could always just find another rope. But maybe the inconvenience would cure their lack of sanity.

There he was. I could see Felix. Trying to sleep like nothing ever happened tonight. An arrow laid in front of me, and I took the chance and grabbed it.

"Get up!" I shouted as I walked closer to Felix.

He was still not moving. I kicked his body. "Bloody hell wake up!"

He started to come into consciousness along with some of the other boys.

"What?" He sneered at me.

"You think I am just some little girl with daddy issues don't you," I raged to him.

"What the hell are you talking about," he repeated.

"You have no right to treat me like this! I-"

"Just calm down!" He retorted. The other lost boys were starting to circle around us. I didn't care.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I pushed his body to the ground. "You make me feel like shit when you are the exact same as me. You were in my shoes! You didn't play by Pan's rules and you paid for it."

"You know nothing darling," he laughed. He saw this as a joke. For an island full of children, I was the only treated like one. To him I was just a bug, waiting to be squashed.

"Really, really!" I began to laugh myself. "Who gave you that scar Felix?"

"It is just a cut, why do you care so much?" He spat at me.

My eyes beamed at him. I sat on top of his body, and began yanking at his shirt.

"The hell Wendy!" Felix yelled.

I didn't pay attention to him. I heard a tear, And I kept pulling until his whole shirt came off. It was ungodly. Just like the lost boy said. It went on much much longer than his face.

"Just a little cut," I sneered. "Pan did this to you. Now you are in so much fear, you would do anything to make sure he is happy."

Felix grabbed the back of my neck, and dragged by head toward him. His lips were on my ear.

"Wendy," he began to whisper. He was full of anger. I am sure he wanted to yell, but then the lost boys would hear. "You will get your own soon enough."

"What do you mean?" I barked at him in response. He always made the consequences of disobeying Pan a mystery to me. To add more fear. He let my imagination run free and think of my own personal hell.

He ignored my question for a second. He just sat there and appreciated me having no power once again. "Perhaps," he was dragging out his words. "Perhaps it will happen during one of your next.. sexual interactions with Pan."

I clawed at him. He was trying to confuse me with his word choice, but I heard him loud and clear. I put my nails deeper into his face. Blood was coming. It made my grip tighter. I put all my pain into this. His skin was underneath my fingernails, and there was no better feeling.

"You're a lying bastard!" I yelled at him.

He was just grinning. My head was again pulled back. A sack was over my face. There was barely enough air in it for me to breathe. A thousand hands were on my body. I had no control of myself. My legs were lifted from the ground. I kicked and punched, but I was out-numbered. We were moving. The cotton kept entering my mouth, and I had to blow it back out.

"There is no rope!" I heard one of the lost boys shout.

I was not one of them. I was not. I knew their plans. One chill after another came onto me.

"Well go find another one!" Felix shouted back.

The screams and yells were back again. In my head they got louder and louder. I began to tremble. These screams weren't for their own personal fears, they were for fears of what would happen to me. The hanging tree was going to have it's next victim.

I was off the ground. My legs were put on top of what seemed to be a wooden box. I gave them no support. I made my legs like one of my dolls at home. But there was enough boys there to make sure they could hold them in place, so they would be all good and sturdy.

"I got the rope," Nibs made known. The wind swooped by me. At least my previous action buyed me some time. But tying it didn't take that long. It was a simple knot and loop that every man knew.

The sack was removed from my face. I looked below to see all the faces that admired my death. It seemed like every lost boy was there. Not one… not one tried to stop it. Peter still wasn't there. But who knew, he could've wanted this just as much as the others.

Felix took the liberty of putting the loop around my neck. I tried to search him for any type of emotion. But all I saw was the damage to his face. There was still blood dripping.

He backed away from me, and looked down at the box keeping me alive. The lost boys took their turn to slowly back away. Felix looked at me and grinned. With all his might, he kicked away the box from underneath my feet.

My instant reaction was to grab onto the rope. I still couldn't breathe. I dug until my some of my fingers were in between the rope and my neck. It helped a little, but I was not strong enough. I began to hyperventilate. I looked at the boys. Being unable to age, took away all of their humanity. My eyes slowly started to close. I knew I wasn't going to open them again.

This was just my next adventure. I guess you could say I was finally free. I was about to let go, but there was a change of wind. Like a new ghost had come. A chill aroused in me.

My body fell hard onto the ground. The rope was removed from my red neck. I started coughing like a heavy smoker. Slowly, I turned my body around, and opened my eyes. There stood brown, blood stained boots with red laces. I traveled my way upwards until I hit a face.

There was Peter. He was breathing as nearly as hard as I was. His hands were in fists. You could see veins popping out of his arms. His right eye was blood shot. Once he knew I was alive, he walked away. He was heading towards the lost boys. Even after this series of unfortunate events, I was still scared for them. Who wouldn't be afraid of him. Peter Pan: The boy who didn't grow up.


End file.
